viewpoint
September 2015
with John Barnes – Managing Director
To make any sense of where we are now or how we move into the future we must understand the past, and ask how did we get to this point and what can we learn from what has happened.
The land we are working today has a history and it is by understanding this that we can effectively make the correct decisions for the future. The same can be said for any organisation. This includes Fertilizer New Zealand. For us to provide you with the best possible information and advice we need to understand the fertiliser history of New Zealand and how and what was achieved. Were there any lessons that we can learn from the past and how can we do things better into the future?
One of my first appointments was a soil scientist who understood the past and had a vision for the future. This gave us a really good understanding as to the type of fertilisers for the future and the rates these products should be applied at. As a totally independent company we import most of what we sell and in the case of our liquid and biological products we manufacture all of them ourselves.
I want to pay tribute to Fertilizer New Zealand’s first soil scientist, Dr Jim Bruce-Smith. He guided me through some of the tough questions which I was facing when I first set up the company and he helped me put in place the science so essential to our success. When Jim passed away I asked his family if I could set up a Scholarship at Lincoln University in his name and they kindly accepted this offer. The Dr James Bruce-Smith Scholarship is now established. In writing about Jim’s working life I have drawn on the extensive notes of the one who knew him best, his wife Robin. Sadly, due to space I have had to abridge her notes and I hope that she will understand.
Jim studied for his Bachelors and Masters Degrees at Lincoln College. By the time he married Robin in 1961 he had already completed his Bachelor’s degree and was writing up the final section of his Masters. In 1962 he graduated with second class honours.
With a wife and child to support and permanent employment with the Department of Agriculture keeping him extremely busy it was not until 1972 that he completed his study for a Doctorate and was capped in 1973.
In the twelve years between getting married and being capped Jim had done the bulk of the work on a Lucerne trial first begun by Terry Ludecke. This took him through to 1962. Although the work was credited to Terry Ludecke, Jim gained valuable experience which stayed with him, even if the glory went to someone else. In 1963 Jim was involved in mapping the high country for the Otago Catchment Board and in 1964 he took up a position in Soil Science at the University of New England in New South Wales Australia, gained his Doctorate and lectured there until 1975, when he returned to New Zealand.
He took up a position as an agronomist with the Department of Agriculture once again in Christchurch and was involved from time to time with ‘think tanks’ giving input into future directions for agriculture in Wellington. He became totally disillusioned by 1980 and resigned from the department to work on his own account. These were the days of Gladys Reid advocating for Zinc as a cure for Eczema and foot-rot and he supported her in this controversial project. (Now used by farmers everywhere, but opposed vociferously by the Department back then). Jim also supported Brown Trotter’s use of TE/Min for stock health.
The success of these products led Jim to develop his own range of products in drench form and he successfully sold them to farmers who treated a variety of their stock with them, from horses to dairy cows and sheep all with great results. Like many who break the traditional mould and are criticized at home he was recognised internationally and completed consultancy postings in China (4 years), Bhutan (4 months), Botswana (3 years) and Vietnam for a few weeks.
I am proud to have known and to have been associated with Dr Jim Bruce-Smith.
Just to give you some insight to Dr Jim’s thinking, here are two quotes from his writings.
Remember too that the stock don’t (shouldn’t) eat soil – they eat the herbage that grows on that soil. The level of individual nutrient elements in that herbage change substantially during the plant’s seasonal growth cycle and it is desirable to maintain as good a proper relative balance between all the essential nutrients as possible throughout the whole season. In my opinion one should think of using multi-nutrient balanced fertilisers rather than just applying, say, lots of phosphate fertiliser because the Olsen P test is low.
The purpose of getting pasture samples analysed is to help pinpoint any excessive or deficient levels of each nutrient relative to the ideal levels of all the other nutrients. If a relative deficiency or excess is noted then the farmer needs to rectify the nutrient balance by applying or omitting that nutrient with appropriate subsequent corrective fertiliser applications. However, in the case of trace element problems, it may be more practical to alternatively supplement the animals with appropriate licks or drenches so as to provide those rumen microbes with all their requirements. The rumen microbes will then in their turn provide the animal with its proper levels of nutrition. While the rumen may be viewed as a sort of battle field where the different microbial organism groups fiercely compete for their particular niche food requirements, remember that the big proportion of them in turn eventually flow over into the cow’s main digestive tract to become the cow’s actual transformed feed, rather than as the original raw pasture material.
The purpose for the scholarship was to help students with an interest in Jim’s insights which he has collected over his life time. It is time to start passing on this information to the next generation so that they can farm with more efficiency.
After interviews with some high calibre students we made the decision to select Mr Johannes Welsch. He has a similar belief in the environment and ecology.
My name is Johannes Welsch. I was born in Germany, and moved to New Zealand about 7 years ago.
My current focus is Agro-Ecology, specialising in spatial modelling and field testing of above and below ground ecological processes and Agro-Ecosystems research in general. I have a background in Forest Ecology and Forest Science with practical experience in organising and leading agricultural and restoration projects in South America and New Zealand.
If I am not in the laboratory, digging for and sampling soil, statistically analyzing my data or organising native restoration plantings and shelter-belts on farms, you will find me cross-country running on Banks Peninsula in Canterbury or in the Southern Alps.
I recently had the privilege of introducing Johannes to Dr Jim’s widow in Canterbury when, as I expected, they found common interests.
Johannes already has international and local knowledge of farming and ecology which he agrees should be part of the future of farming in New Zealand. We welcome Johannes to the Fertilizer New Zealand team and look forward to his involvement.
Regional Roundup with Karen Nolan
What’s happening in Southland…The last couple of days in Southland has brought some sun and a little bit of much needed drying weather, which has started the ball rolling on fertiliser going out on the paddocks.
Grass growth has started off very slow this season, but with a few more of these spring days we will be back on track!
Lambing is well under-way for some farmers, with others to start very shortly, whereas calving is starting to tail off after a wet and muddy few weeks.
The past few weeks has seen me busy at both soil testing and also doing various nutrient budget reports. The days are getting longer with Daylight Saving just around the corner which will be welcomed in order to get a few extra outside jobs done in the evenings! Looking forward to the next few months leading in to summer!
