Sustainable agriculture is defined as agricultural production which causes no damage to the environment and is therefore able to be continued for a long time to maintain farmer profitability and food security. Fertilisers with high efficacy for agricultural production are increasingly important during the current global transition to a green, low-carbon economy.
For the past 24 years, Western Fertiliser Technology Pty Ltd has been wholly focussed on introducing farmers to sustainable agricultural technology. Our fertiliser products, grain analysis advisory systems, manufacturing systems and cropping programs has shown the way to achieve farm sustainability. Our website focusses on providing new innovative information on fertiliser technologies to farmers and students of agricultural science and technology. We now hold top rank for “fertiliser technology” in leading global search engines Google, MSN.com and Yahoo!.
Our fertiliser products are designed with two dedicated aims of agricultural sustainability and farmer profitability. Fertilisers are one of the most expensive inputs for farmers. Our DIY Blend-Tech and Fertiblend systems enable farmers to produce a diverse range of NPK products cheaply and safely; inclusion of calcium, magnesium, sulphur and trace elements in the DIY products ensure high yields for crops. High analysis, factory-produced products covering the full range of nutrients with various NPK ratios to suit various cropping needs are also available (Products List).
Super Energy and other products containing NPK and chelated trace elements stimulates activity of microorganisms crucial for nitrogen and carbon fixation in soils. Trace elements and minerals play a crucial role in the Carbon Cycle, enabling decomposition and humification of organic matter by soil microorganisms to fix carbon in soils. Scientifically formulated liquid fertilisers are needed now not only in broadacre agriculture and horticultural food production, but also in forestry for mitigation of climate change by increasing photosynthesis in forest trees and plants to efficiently absorb CO2. The importance of photosynthesis and its chemistry is discussed in detail on our website under Nutrition Management and Technical Questions pages. Fertilisers balanced with NPK and trace elements in ideal ratios promotes water-use efficiency of crops, an important consideration for Australia’s dry climate. Early and vigorous root growth of crops to chase water stored at lower depths is our objective.
For our products to perform at maximum efficiency, we emphasize the importance of liquid lime for increasing microbial activity and maintenance of nutritional balance with major nutrients NPKS and trace elements for sustainable farming. We chose hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide or builder’s lime) and magnesium oxide as the central quick-acting ingredients of liquid lime, applied efficiently with our liquid lime applicator in the Fertiblend system. Liquid lime restores optimum pH to the soil solution for chemical and nutritional balance in nutrient-exhausted and degraded soils for increased yields and quality of crops.
Western Fertiliser Technology was the first to introduce the grain analysis system to identify yield-limiting nutrients in soils (Publications Page). Nutrients limiting in the soil leads to low nutrient levels in plant tissue and finally low levels in grain. Grain being less exposed to contamination provides a uniform, stable dry material with higher levels of nutrients, enabling more accurate and precise chemical analysis. Major and trace nutrient elements identified to be in the low range, responsible for low yields and lower quality, are corrected at sowing or foliar with the Soil and Foliar major and single trace elements (Grain Analysis System Products).
Our fully portable production units are robust, light weight, highly innovative, cheap to produce, corrosion resistant, safe to operate, highly productive and can produce a wide range of quality products in a diverse range of formulations. Fibre-glass as the construction material for tanks provides light weight, corrosion-proof advantages, plus an ability to scale up from 4500-litres capacity to 50,000-litres capacity with minimum modifications to operating systems. Stainless steel is used wherever corrosion resistance is needed, from motors, impellers, fans, filters, camlocks and hose clamps for minimum maintenance. Sustainable wood is used as a platform, in preference to steel supports. The flat-bottom configuration and dynamic baffling allows safe, vibration-free mixing of fertiliser ingredients with water. To empty the tank, all that is necessary is to raise the side opposite to the centrifugal pump a few inches with the fork lift. For electrical safety, all electrical connections are supplied with RCDs.
Western Fertiliser Technology Pty Ltd is aware of the need to save diesel fuel in an increasingly carbon-constrained world, and with this in mind, we conceived and launched the 5-in-one Fertiblend unit at the Wagin Woolorama in March 2016 (see micro ad, home page). The highly innovative Fertiblend unit has been designed to produce six DIY NPK liquid fertiliser products, and to be carried safely on the back of a suitable 4WD utility for liquid fertiliser application. It is designed to replace the heavy high-powered tractor, the 4000-litre boom tank and the heavyweight hydraulic operated steel boom, reducing total ground pressure considerably. The Fertiblend unit applies pH-buffered liquid fertilisers that do not require dilution with water, saving fuel. The 1000-litre IBC shuttles used to deliver liquid fertilisers are used again as nurse tanks to refill the Fertiblend unit in the paddock when empty. Provided with the Fertiblend unit is an innovative corrosion-proof liquid fertiliser injector system capable of in-furrow or on-furrow injection of liquid fertilisers at seeding time; as well as high-volume application of liquid lime and potash to green manure crops (Current Topics). Posted July 7, 2016.