Microbes, specifically soil microbes are vital to soil health and pasture and therefore beef cattle productivity. A June report on ABC Landline outlined how microbes boosting soil health and pasture production could be a cheaper, more sustainable alternative to nitrogen fertilisers.
There are millions of microbes in 1 gram of soil but generally only a few are vital to soil health. Unlocking the potential of these microbes could reduce reliance on synthetic, typically urea-based, fertilisers reducing costs, improving production margins and importantly improving environmental outcomes. Reducing urea usage reduces the carbon footprint as less nitrogen is lost to the atmosphere.
Similarly biological additives can also be used to assist rumen efficiency particularly as pastures dry off and lignify.
Applying biology over chemistry is not news to regenerative farmers but mainstream adoption of microbes is gaining in popularity as greenhouse gas abatement measures become enmeshed across the industry.
