Lucky Nickel Ranch endorses Bactifeed

Michael McKenzie owns the Lucky Nickel Ranch and the McKenzie Inn Bedd and Breakfast in Eloy, Arizona.  He is a COP (Certified Organic Producer) and sells his produce to many of the large organic commercial grocery stores in metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson.  Chances are, if you shop at these Organic Grocery Stores, you have eaten some of Michael’s produce.

“I own the Lucky Nickel Ranch and the McKenzie Inn Bed and Breakfast (www.TheMcKenzieInn.com) .  I tried Bactifeed on about 2 acres of ground where I was trying to grow a lawn.  I now have a robust mat of grass that has significantly reduced the dust, dirt and erosion on the grounds around our property while providing a much more aesthetic look to our Bed and Breakfast.  This was accomplished with a very simple and easy process.  Not only has Bactifeed solved several problems, I have also reduced my water and fertilizer use.

I have now gotten Bactifeed USDA certified for use by CCOF on my produce and other crops.   I grow for several major organic retailers and am excited about the increased production I will achieve while reducing the input costs.  I will also be able to use more natural manures as the microbes will break them down much quicker, again, increasing production while reducing costs.

Bactifeed is now part of my irrigation profile and procedure.”

Bactifeed gains more organic certifications

Bactifeed is already certified as USDA organic by GOCA (Guaranteed Organic Certification Agency).  Last year, we were certified for use by several of our growers by CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) as well as this year.  Our latest certification came from a grower who uses ICS (International Certification Services).  The process is pretty simple.  Contact your certification agent about Bactifeed ST.  They will send a request for information to Bactifeed, and then, after they process the information,  you will become certified to use Bactifeed ST on your organic crops and remain in full USDA compliance requirements.  We recommend you follow up with your agent, as the agencies are very busy and the squeaking wheel gets the grease!

GOLF COURSE RESULTS, Jan – June 2010

GOLF COURSE RESULTS (CLICK HERE!)

June 2008, After 220 acre/ft of water for the previous 6 months.

June 2010 after 171 acre/ft put on the previous 6 months.

Cutting back on water and fertilizer has become a mandatory requirement to stay in business.  However, what could be absolutely disastrous (click on presentation above) can actually propel new ways of thinking and doing business.  Examine the following video…it is amazing to see the photos from 2008 with the massive water amounts compared to the 2010 and the results from using Bactifeed.

With Bactifeed, we are addressing the soil, from which all else grows.  Unhealthy soil does not absorb water, does not metabolize organic matter (grass thatch, minerals, fertilizers) and can even preclude herbicides from functioning properly.  This leads to expensive amendments which will solve one problem…but typically create another.  Bactifeed works to increase the health of the soil, so there are no negative side effects (except mowing more frequently).  This allows us to save on water and fertilizer while increasing the value of the surface crop (grass in the case of golf courses and athletic fields).

Examine the video and contact your nearest representative to learn how you can improve your course while saving money!

Continued Success:

Bactifeed: Success in the cantalope fields (click here to see the results)

Bactifeed continues to show results over a wide geographical spectrum.  From Alfalfa to Zuchini and everything that grows in between.  Recently, a project involving a most distressed field of cantalope was treated with Bactifeed.  The results are nothing less than stunning.

Untreated field. Exposed soil is dirt...not enough organic matter to sustain life. This can happen for any number of reasons and is usually quite difficult to correct with traditional farming methods. Dirt provides no environment to provide encourage, or sustain plant/root life.

Untreated field. Observe yellowing of leaves, fruit, brown places of no and limited vegetation. This is indicative of soils under stress, not absorbing water, and not providing a fertile root environment.

Soils that aren't healthy in organic and microbial content will prevent water and nutrient absorption. Thus water evaporates (expensive), and without microbes, soil prevents water and metabolism of organic matter by root structure. Production is reduced, water use increases, fertilizer use increases. Bottom line, more expense, less production.

Treated field. A formerly "struggling field", note the deep lush green, healthy melons, and lack of bare spots across the field. This field was one of the worst fields on the property. It now saves water, fertilizer, and grows more melons.

The end result of Bactifeed. Healthy soils, healthier product, increase in quantity, all with less water and fertilizer. More production, less cost.

Bactifeed Lawn and Garden

Bactifeed Lawn and Garden Instructions (Click on this link to see the video)

Beth is our upstate New York representative (Rochester) and is going to show you step by step how to use Bactifeed for a simple home/lawn/garden application.  We also have systems to inject this into your home irrigation system, to make it even easier!

Tags: residential, video

“Popsci: The future of farming” article lauding microbes

A liquid soil additive called Bio-Soil Enhancers boosts yields in virtually every type of crop.

“Fertilizer use has exponentially increased crop yields in the past 30 years. That fertilizer provides extra nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which are essential for plants to build amino acids and cell walls. Soon, farmers may be able to get all the benefits of man-made fertilizer for hundreds of dollars less by using microbes instead. C.A. Reddy, a professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Michigan State University, examined 300 naturally occurring soil microbes and assembled a cocktail that can simultaneously reduce the need for phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers, protect plants against pathogens, and boost yields in virtually every type of crop.

In his experiments, field-grown tomato plants fed with his microbes produced nearly 90 percent more fruit, and greenhouse tomato yields were often even greater compared with using traditional fertilizer. He’s also tried them on plants ranging from eggplant to switchgrass. Sold as a liquid soil additive called Bio-Soil Enhancers, Reddy’s microbes are self-sustaining, unlike traditional fertilizer, which needs to be replenished every year. He’s doing extensive field trials now.”

Click here to read the article.

August 09 White Letter

The Little Things

For centuries, man has tilled the earth, planted seeds, watered, and harvested. Man learned that fertilizing the ground with manures and composts helped increase the harvest. After WWII, chemical fertilizers were introduced, which further increased the yields to unprecedented levels. However, these fertilizers began to erode the delicate balance in the organic life cycles that take place in the soil. Over time, more and more fertilizer had to be used to maintain crop yields, further deteriorating micro organic activity. Every season brought about a new problem to be solved, which in turn created another problem.

Dirt is made up of sand, silt, and clay, leaving very little room for water, oxygen, and organic matter. Soil made up of organic matter, minerals, and living organisms. Soil supports biological cycles that allow the soil to process carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, water, and decaying matter. Each one of these cycles is critical in maintaining a healthy environment where crops can grow. In healthy soil, approximately 45% of soil is evenly divided between water and oxygen, with 1-5% made up of organic material with the remaining matter composed of sand, silt, and/or clay.

The life supported by the soil can be divided into six groups: earthworms, nematodes, arthropods, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, all of which play an important role in plant health and water cycling. The cycle of nutrients going through this environment are driven by microorganisms which facilitate decomposition, mineralization, Nitrogen cycling, storage and release of nutrients, carbon cycling, and removal of pollutants from water prior to reaching underground or surface water.

The life forms, from earthworm (complex) to protozoa (one cell), all function in the soil to metabolize minerals and organic matter into a digestible substance that roots can absorb. This excrement is called humus. Consumption of dead root hair, leaf shatter, and bacteria also release nitrogen into the soils. These microorganisms also produce varying amounts of sulfuric and humic acids, which facilitate further organic breakdown into digestible components, further enriching the soil. Because the organic matter and minerals pass through living organisms, the Ph levels begin to balance to optimal levels for plant growth.

Returning the soil to its natural state by increasing micro organic content can reduce the number of inputs. Fertilizers, minerals, and organic matter already in the soil can be metabolized into digestible nutrition for plant roots. Healthy soil requires less water to saturate the soil, and healthy plants are more capable of defending themselves from predatory herb (weeds) and pests, which reduces input costs to the farmer. The key to revitalizing crop yield and farming efficiency is by making sure the little things that do so much are well maintained in your fields. Ironically, the micro organisms, or little things, are often overlooked when trying to provide solutions to many problems agricultural industry. Make sure you take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves. To learn more about how you can take care of the little things, contact Dr. David Cohn at dmcohn@earthlink.net or 520 869 5666.

GOCA-certified for Organic Farming

If you are an organic farmer, or a farmer who sells commercially licensed organic produce, you understand how important certification of your inputs is to your business.  Bactifeed has been certified for use by organic farmers by the Guaranteed Organic Certification Agency www.goca.ws to be in full compliance with USDA standards regulating organic farm production.

Tags: organic

Golf Course Soil Package

Two issues confront all golf courses:

• cost of fertilizer
• water utilization

 
Golf courses have different problems depending on their geographical locations.  One problem nearly universal to golf courses is the cost of fertilizing them.  The second universal problem is water.  In some regions there is naturally too much, while in others there is not enough, even with irrigation.

Bactifeed provides solutions to both problems.  By increasing the level of microbial activity in the soil, we will increase the efficiency of the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles that are endemic to healthy soils.  This means that Bactifeed will enhance the ability to metabolize thatch much faster than it would be able to otherwise.  This acceleration means a consistent release of nitrogen from the dead organic matter, as well as other nutrients contained in the thatch.  It will allow the soil to open up and process water, nitrogen, and carbon much more efficiently, meaning water will be absorbed at far greater rates than with lower levels of microbial activity.  Fertilizers left over season after season will not run off with the irrigation or storm water, but be effectively metabolized into a humus that is readily digestible to root structure.   Fertilizer will be more thoroughly absorbed into the soil ecosystem, meaning you will need less water to irrigate the same acreage.   Your healthy soil will retain this moisture which will prevent roots from dying in the heat, and water will not run off, but be efficiently absorbed.   Because of the increase of absorption, less fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides will escape to storm water runoff, cleaning your water source.  You fertilizer utilization rate will dramatically increase resulting in the need to use less fertilizer.

In wetter areas, like a golf course in Kansas City, the natural rainfall has been excessive and cost courses there tens of thousands of dollars in lost golf revenue because of fairways being underwater or otherwise unplayable.  Standing water from these downpours accumulates, killing grass, creating unwanted fungus and insect issues, and weeds. 

On one golf course in Kansas City, Bactifeed was used last year (2008) in a few experimental low areas and the standing water receded much quicker after heavy rains.   In the last few years, courses have been closed there 40-45 days to let the course dry out for golfers, resulting in a loss of $4,000 in concession revenues.  (Public courses lose nearly double that because they lose green fees).   Thus far in the season they have had more rain than last year, and 15 fewer closures.  Golfers are on the course after the rain stops.  The superintendent was able to cut 25% out of his fertilizer budget before the season ever began, and the grass is flourishing all over the course.   Fewer herbicides are necessary because there is less standing water, and fewer fungal issues and insect issues have been observed.   Most of all, the cost for an annual regimen of Bactifeed is made up by having one and a half days of less rain induced closure.  The savings in fertilizer alone was 6 times the cost of an annual supply of Bactifeed.

In Arizona, a golf course in Scottsdale faced similar issues.   The owner decided to use half the fertilizer he normally used, using Bactifeed every other month.  His grass stayed greener during the entire season.  His water issues were also substantial, in that there persisted a heavy Alkali content due to the water softeners in the valley.  The Bactifeed neutralized the alkali, which helped the soil absorb and hold the water.  Holding the water prevented root burn and kept the course green.   A water savings of nearly 35 percent was observed, and the course is in the best shape going  into the overseed the superintendant has ever seen (14 years on the same course).

Tags: golf

Residential Lawn & Garden Care

Bactifeed can also be used most effectively by residential customers.   Packaged in smaller containers, one 8 oz. container can take care of a 5,000 square foot lawn and garden for an entire spring and summer.  It was tested in one of the most challenging places to grow grass, Phoenix Arizona.

Bruce, a rose gardener, used Bactifeed last fall and noted his roses flourished and bloomed…in September.  He is meticulous with his roses and the difference was immediate.   Larger, fuller blossoms and many multiples of them without the use of any additional products besides the Bactifeed.  This is because the years of fertilizers and additives that were used were finally being metabolized and delivered to the roots of the roses, with amazing results.

Kathy, a homeowner in North Phoenix, had a back yard that was a mixture of Bermuda, weeds, crabgrass, and dirt where nothing would grow.  A planter in the corner of the yard held plant life, but it was a struggle to keep the plants alive.  After several applications last fall, the crabgrass was eliminated and the brown dead spots began to fill in with the Bermuda grass.  When the winter rye came in, it was nearly totally devoid of weeds.  The planter flourished and is a floral miracle of life.   This spring her pool pump failed and she drained the water into her yard.  Normally this water would flood the yard for weeks, but the Bactifeed allowed the water to soak into the soil in a matter of days, and now the main issue is cutting the grass more frequently.

Steve built a home in Scottsdale, and had to have over 100 loads of fill dirt brought in to level the ground for the home construction.  Fill dirt being devoid of organic matter, the prospect of growing grass on and having a yard was an expensive one.  Two springs in a row he sodded the yard, but the sod would dry out and die, even with frequent watering.  Last fall, Steve put down the cheapest compost he could find along with seed for winter rye.  Bactifeed was then applied with every other watering.  The results are amazing.   Steve now has a full, green yard in the middle of a desert!

Steve's yard. A full yard on top fill dirt (no organic matter) of two layers of dead sod (plenty of organic matter, but could not survive on the fill dirt).

Steve's yard with Bactifeed treatment, turning dead sod into lush green grass.

Chris, a crop insurance salesman in Garden City Kansas, used his sample of Bactifeed from the sales demonstration on his hard in February.  He took the cup of product that was mixed in about 24 ounces of water home, and put it into a five gallon bucket with additional water.  Later that week, he put it in the lawn feeder on his garden hose and watered his side yard with it.  In a matter of weeks, his side yard greened ahead of front and back yards and required cutting.  His side yard eliminate weeds and filled in with a homogeneous Bermuda grass.

Bill, an insurance salesman in Leawood, Kansas, and amateur Tomato farmer, grew tomatoes far in excess of what the label on the tomato plant said was possible.  He also used Bactifeed on areas of his yard where nothing would grow, and those areas have since filled in with grass.

From California to Delaware and everywhere in between, Residential Bactifeed has improved yards, gardens, compost heaps, and flower plots.  Our residential package is extremely cost effective and can make a huge difference in your residential needs and, depending on the size of the yard/garden, can last an entire season.  Try some today!

Tags: residential