Lately, regenerative agriculture has been gaining a lot of attention from the New Zealand media as farmers move away
from more conventional agriculture practices. This has brought new attention to the use of dosing pumps in NZ.
Just as practices evolve in any other industry, agriculture practices are continually changing. New, better dosing pumps
are created, and more efficient machinery is invented. What could be thought of as a crazy idea today ends up being
tomorrow’s new normal.
However, climate change is quickly increasing the pressure to come up with new, innovative ways of doing things in the
agriculture industry. Temperatures are soaring, and New Zealand is getting less and less rain right when our soil needs
it most. Droughts are occurring more frequently and lasting for longer.
All of this has dire consequences on the health of our soil. Currently, grazing systems tend to rely on species with
shallow roots, such as clover or ryegrass. However, these are having a harder time growing in the current climate. There
is a lot of misinformation out there about regenerative agriculture and soil health. One of the most notable beliefs is
that fertiliser is not good for either, but this simply isn’t true.
Much of the soil in NZ is low in the phosphorous required to produce excellent results from pastures. Even more
nutrients disappear each year from farmland due to natural weathering and through stock leaving. To keep our soil as
productive as we need it to be, we must be adding fertiliser into it. This will give a dose of much-needed nitrogen and
phosphorus to the plants that grow in it.
Public opinion has lately been that fertiliser is not good for pastures; however this opinion is flawed. Numerous
studies show that applying plenty of fertiliser can encourage pasture production and create better quality soil. This is
just one example of how new findings can support regenerative agriculture in New Zealand.