Fungi Help Soil Hold Water In Drought

A Weekly Times article – October 10 – about Balranald farmer, Tim O’Halloran, who believes he will harvest a good wheat crop this season, though neighbours have already put livestock in on poor crops, led me to www.lawrieco.com.au.

People are starting to say we have to change the way we do things and the LawrieCo Newsletter – The Sustainable Update – tells of biological farm practices over several years that are showing that wheat and wine crops can do well despite drought conditions in southeastern South Australia and western Victoria.

What was the consultant’s advice?

Adrian Lawrie says:

“Decades of cultivation, overgrazing and overuse of chemicals and chemical fertilizers have destroyed the fungal spores’ capacity to reproduce and ro survive in the soil.

Soil bacteria do well in the soil but the fungi are extremely depleted…fungi put carbon back into the soil whereas bacterial carbon is lost to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide…fungi are also very efficient in holding water in their structure which is why crops are able to finish without spring rainfall.

It is exciting to see the results Tim has achieved…I have been doing this job for 13 years and this crop blew me away.”

Tim O’Halloran’s crop

• Following LawrieCo’s advice for seven years Tim has been using a mix of humates – a carbon based feed -plus fungal innoculants.
• The humates are mixed with mono ammonium phosphate.
• This year Tim sowed his 800 ha of yitpi wheat at a rate of 20kg/ha – about one third the normal rate.
• The humates result in fungi spores germinating into the soil to form fine filaments of fungi called hyphae.
• Tim expects to harvest a 1.25 tonne/ha crop this year.

Good results for winery

Read more about good results from biological farming for Pirramimma viticulturist and winemaker Geoff Johnston, McLaren Vale.