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Services provided by Jolly Farmer's SFI lab.
As an affliated Soil Foodweb laboratory,
we
can perform biology tests on soils,
leaf
surfaces, compost, and compost teas for
any
of our customers and associates. |
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A comprehensive test developed by Soil Foodweb, Inc. assesses the biology present in the soil, leaf, or tea sample. For soil and composts, it evaluates active and total bacteria, active and total fungi, average diameter of fungal hyphae, protozoa numbers, nematode numbers, and for soils it will even assess mycorrhizal fungi populations on the root systems. Alternately, we offer a much less expensive test that is simply a qualitative look at whether the organisms are in the poor, fair, good, or excellent ranges.
Click here: Assay Descriptions for a description of the assays offered by Soil Foodweb Labs.
Submission forms for samples sent to us can be downloaded in pdf format from the following links or you call us and ask us to fax the forms to you.
WHY IS BIOLOGY IMPORTANT?
In simplicity, it is the soil biology that enables plants to live and that is the base for all other forms of life on this planet. For thousands of years, people knew nothing about synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. It is true that people are now growing many plants that were not native to these environments and this has caused some needs for pesticides, but why have people needed to use more and more chemical fertilizer over the last 100 years? Why is nitrate now showing up in the ground water? Why is erosion such an issue? Why are nitrates and pesticides leaching into rivers and lakes causing algae blooms and fish kills? Over all, farmers are not harvesting larger crops on a per acre basis, but they are increasingly needing to use more fertilizer. The answer lies in the biology. These are the living creatures in the soil that were created to do the job of supplying nutrients to plants. They do an incredible job of both feeding the plants and holding the unused nutrients in the soil until these nutrients are needed. When biology is in correct balance, nutrients remain in the root zone instead of being leached away and much less fertilizer is required. Natural fungi break down thatch and residue layers converting these wastes back into plant available nutrients and removing potential pest sites. Depending on the situation, weed species can tend to disappear or become much less of a problem.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY BIOLOGY IS LACKING?
This testing service enables you to see how your biology matches up with what Soil Foodweb Inc. has found to be optimum levels for the particular plant you are growing. These levels have been determined through thousands of tests world wide.
WHAT DO I DO TO GET THE RIGHT BIOLOGY BACK INTO MY SOILS?
A soil biology test comes back with recommendations as to how you can increase your biology levels back to where they should be for your specific crop and climate zone. High quality compost and compost tea are two very good ways to bring biology back. While adding biology back, it is also important to realize what kills it and to limit those activities as much as possible. Tim Livingstone at Jolly Farmer can help you with more details, pictures showing what has worked, and references etc.
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