permaculture

[loren luyendyk <loren@sborganics.com>]

It is no doubt that we will one day run out of phosphate, whether it is in 
our (my) lifetime or later, especially considering the amount farmers apply 
to pasture etc.  Plus the mining of it is questionable in terms of 
environmental destruction IMO.

Eugenio Gras from Mexico has pioneered a way to make soluble phosphorous from 
bone, which he teaches through the BioFertile Farms workshops hosted by 
RegenAg and others:

"To create soluble phosphorus, Eugenio takes animal bones which are 
high in calcium and phosphorus, and burns them. The ash is phosphorus 
and mineral rich. “The industry charges you $50 a kilo for soluble 
phosphate and how much does a bone cost you? Every farmer has a cemetery
 and they are for free!” he says.
Other wood ashes and rock dust can be added, to increase the 
diversity of minerals. The mixture undergoes lactic fermentation, which 
chelates the minerals. “Four thousand minerals have been classified. 
That’s the number that plants have had available for 400 million years. 
Then we come along and say ‘no, the only thing you need is NPK’. We now 
know it is not the amount of the mineral, but its presence that is 
important. We found when you bring rock dust into the biofertiliser, the
 diversity is much greater and you don’t need to buy in those expensive 
sulphates anymore. We also use small quantities. If you have grapes with
 a zinc deficiency, then you can add one kilogram of zinc to your 
starting ingredients. It will chelate and you will end up with 
biofertiliser enriched with zinc and an array of other minerals,” 
Eugenio says."
full 
article:http://www.acresaustralia.com.au/international/02/biofertilisers-and-plant-health-defence-is-the-best-form-of-attack/

> Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2012 23:16:12 -0400
> From: venaurafarm@bellsouth.net
> To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] Farming as a permaculture system. Re: 
> [SANET-MG] yield of conventional vs organic farms
> 
> On 6/7/2012 10:38 PM, Gasper Family Farm wrote:
> > Are we not facing a peak in the supply of mined phosphate? This is one of 
> > if
> > not they key yield and plant health limiting nutrient; and also the 
> > hardest
> > one to get outside the mine. Other than the mandatory recycling of
> > phosphorus from humanure, are their any other permanent solutions for
> > sourcing phosphorous for the farm (on a broad acre scale)?
> >
> > Pete
> >
> > On 05/11/2012 07:54 PM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
> >> It should seek to
> >> reduce off farm inputs. Natural, mined phosphate and other minerals will
> >> likely be needed from time to time as crops deplete levels of nutrients
> >> needed for healthy livestock and plant production. If enough acreage is
> >> available the other major nutrients can for the most part be generated
> >> on site and later recycled.
> 
> Buy your rock or colloidal phosphate now, from any existing dealers, 
> Fertrell and others, while you can. The best American rock phosphate, 
> Carolina Black is no longer being sold as ground raw ore as Fertrell was 
> used to buying to put in their blends. Door got slammed in the faces of 
> the natural-organic-sustainable farming community by the new owner of 
> the mine near Bath, NC. They only sell phosphoric acid for synthetic 
> fertilizer blends, miscellaneous industry uses (great metal cleaner and 
> de-rusting agent) and soft drinks. Natural mined phosphate comes from 
> Florida, Tennessee, Idaho and possibly other States. Get what you can 
> while you can and apply it on your land for long term use. This is a 
> better product than bone meal. Compost what you can in order to recycle 
> phosphorous, reduce erosion on land, cycle water and nutrients between 
> systems and farm and garden sites on property, reduce or eliminate off 
> site migration of nutrients, especially phosphorous.
> 
> I do not know about any peak situation in phosphate production. I have 
> heard that is exists underground all along the eastern US coast in great 
> quantity; just need to mine it to get it out, if environmental permits 
> can be had. It also comes from Morocco which may have the best in the 
> world or is equal to the NC Black Rock Phosphate (an old standby 
> component of Fertrell fertilizer blends for many years, excellent products.
> 
> Such are the times we live in.
> 
> LL
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