Golden Bay Dolomite October Newsletter
Andy Thompson from the The Rural Roundup, talks to Golden Bay Dolomite’s Trevor Pearce, South Island Sales Manager.
The benefits of Dolomite are a good fit for the current climate and generation of farmers and growers looking for a biological approach to soil health. South Island Sales Manager Trevor Pearce gives an overview of what farmers can expect to see when switching to a Dolomite program.
A summary of the interview can be viewed below.
Q. Where does Golden Bay Dolomite come from?
A. Sourced from Collingwood in Tasman area it is a natural deposit, with high quality properties of Magnesium carbonate (39%) and Calcium carbonate (59%).
It is a valuable product and the only New Zealand Magnesium source available, all other Dolomitic rocks and fertiliser products need to be imported.
Q. Logistically how do you get Dolomite out of the quarry?
A. The quarry is centrally placed at Collingwood with easy truck access to distribute our product, not on Takaka Hill as people often mistakenly assume. We are able to manage transport costs by also bulk shipping product to the North Island ports for truck distribution.
Q. There seems to be a resurge of interest in Dolomite – is this a fair observation?
A. Yes - we are seeing the next generation of farmers coming through starting to really ask questions about the price of fertiliser and how they can improve their soils and remain productive. We have enquiries from across the different sectors now, not just dairy farmers - sheep and beef farmers, horticulturalists and viticulture. The rural sector seems to be still experiencing growth which is great.
Q. When farmers apply Golden Bay Dolomite, what is different from a “standard” fertiliser application?
A. Farmers switching to Golden Bay Dolomite often is linked to asking questions about their soil tests and what they are measuring. Sometimes a farmer may only have a pH and Oslen P test completed. In comparison we send all our tests to Perry Agricultural Laboratory in Missouri for an independent comprehensive report that shows up everything right through to trace elements.
With Dolomite it is a different approach as I say we are looking to balance the percentage of Calcium carbonate and Magnesium carbonate in the soil, often the amount of Calcium may be too high so we might not recommend Dolomite to start with, instead addressing the Magnesium level.
Applying Dolomite compared to agriculture lime raises both Calcium and Magnesium levels but also has a liming effect that is 1.666x greater, so applying Dolomite is a third more effective – there are a lot of factors to consider.
Q. We have covered off that Dolomite is cost-effective – what can farmers expect to see in their pastures?
A. If their soils are Magnesium deficient, which we are finding a lot of New Zealand soils are due to the use of agriculture lime (without being too technical Calcium a double positively charged cation is removing Magnesium also a double positively charged cation from the cation exchange capacity of the soil). The first thing that farmers will see with an application is the greening of their pasture overcoming that Magnesium deficiency.
The starting point is the soil analysis and utilizing all the information to formulate a customized blend for your property that takes in:
A liming requirement
Capital fertiliser requirements
Trace element requirements
Q. If someone wants to get ahold of Golden Bay Dolomite or find out more about your product, how do they do that?
A. Visit our website www.goldenbaydolomite.co.nz, phone 03 525 9843 or email sales@goldenbaydolomite.co.nz
Want to read more about how Golden Bay Dolomite is delivering results for our farmers?
Click on the link below to read about the improvements in crop health Tom Rudge, South Island cropping farmer, experienced after switching to using Golden Bay Dolomite in his cropping programme. https://www.goldenbaydolomite.co.nz/tom-rudge
Golden Bay Dolomite, empowering your soil in a more natural, healthier and sustainable way.
Give us a call to incorporate Dolomite into your farm plan. Visit our website at goldenbaydolomite.co.nz or contact one of our consultants. Phone 03 525 9843 or email sales@goldenbaydolomite.co.nz