First Soil Carbon Credits Achieved with Soilkee Renovator

Dr Maarten Stapper writes about the great results achieved and the principles behind soil carbon sequestration using the Soilkee Renovator in pasture cropping. The Soilkee Renovator implement provides a one-pass operation which tills, cultivates and renovates pastures. Subsequent well-timed operations create healthy soils and provide extra feed for grazing. He explains why annual soil carbon improvements of more than 3 tC/ha exceed science benchmarks 10-fold. Maarten has been associated with the Soilkee Renovator since 2012. He did trials on 9 pasture paddocks across three farms (rainfall 700-1090mm) over 14 months in 2013-14, with an average soil organic carbon increase of 24 percent (3.7% to 4.6%). Here he describes the processes for regenerating soils with the Soilkee Renovator.

Further information:

  1. Trial report Soilkee Renovator project 2013-14
  2. Presentation at National Carbon Farming Conference Albury 2015  
  3. Video of Soilkee Renovator in action
Posted on 5th Sep, 2020 by Waterwheel Creative

Request sent to Federal Politicians to block Gene Editing amendment

GMOs made with gene editing techniques need strict regulation to protect the health and well-being of farmers, consumers, environment and trade. Deregulation could result in crises in each of these areas. Also, these gene editing techniques need to be assessed for safety in a much better way than has happened using previous techniques, with less assumption and more evidence. They need to be labelled for consumers here and overseas, especially if other countries or the EU don’t allow them to be used. Risks will occur with development and use of new GMO applications that can be sprayed on crops, fruit trees or vines, thus accepting risk of spray drift to neighbours with its legal consequences. Here Maarten describes why he is concerned as an agricultural scientist.

Posted on 4th Nov, 2019 by Maarten Stapper

Why GMOs are NOT the Answer to World Hunger

Perhaps the most convincing argument for the use of GMOs in agriculture is the claim that they can produce greater yields, ostensibly relieving hunger in areas that struggle from a lack of food. This is a noble goal and one that proponents of GMOs often cite when arguing that genetically modified crops are a positive scientific development. Here the problem, that GMOs are not able to do this, is described further.

Posted on 4th Nov, 2019 by Maarten Stapper

Holder Community Garden Talk and Walk

Why is soil organic carbon in our garden so important? Higher organic carbon content in soils means higher natural soil fertility, which allows substantial reduction in the need for synthetic fertilizers, or using none as in our organic garden. More organic carbon means a better soil structure and a bigger, more effective ‘sponge’ that holds more plant available water and nutrients.

Click here to read about the eventDownload

Posted on 4th Nov, 2019 by Maarten Stapper

Healthy Soils for Healthy Quality Food: Producing the real ‘Clean & Green’

Dr Maarten Stapper’s closing address of the 1st Biological Farming Conference dispelling the ‘Clean and Green’ myth of current production systems, and demonstrating the cleaner and greener biological farming systems on healthy soils. Click here to watch this 2015 presentation managed by Soil Care Inc.

Posted on 28th Mar, 2019 by Maarten Stapper

Arena No.156: Agricultural Addictions

Dr Maarten Stapper writes about the herbicide to GM merry-go-round undermining our food supply. The herbicide glyphosate has recently been in the news since a worker in San Francisco was awarded a verdict against Monsanto for causing his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Click here to read the articleDownload
Posted on 28th Mar, 2019 by Maarten Stapper

Healthy soil, Healthy food, Healthy people

Four presentations “Gezonde bodem, Gezond eten, Gezonde mensen” were given in four corners of The Netherlands on 2, 4, 5 and 9 July 2018. They were presented in Dutch with English text in the powerpoint. The last lecture was in Kollumerzwaag (Frisia), the home town of Theo Mulder the organiser of the tour. It can be watched in two video’s on his Mulder Agro website.

Jorg Tonjes attended and wrote in Dutch an article for the national dairy industry entitled ‘Soil organic matter can built up quicker than scientists do expect’: ‘Organische stof bouwt sneller op dan wetenschappers verwachten’.

Simon Talsma had an interview with Maarten about the background of his story and published ‘Healthy soils give rise to healthy people’ in the Frisian Newspaper of Saturday 7 juli: ‘Gezonde bodem zorgt voor gezonde mens’ (Friesch Dagblad zaterdag 7 juli).

Posted on 28th Mar, 2019 by Maarten Stapper

Killing Our Soils: Industrial food production the culprit

An internationally recognised expert on food and farming has warned that industrially produced fruit and vegetables are robbing our plants of their own protection system and significantly reducing their mineral and antioxidant properties. In the latest interview in the Soils For Life video series, Dr Maarten Stapper says fruit and vegetables are mass produced in soils lacking the essential ingredient – microbes. “A teaspoon of healthy soil can have a billion microbes and in a healthy soil, there can be 50,000 different species of microbes”, Dr Stapper says.

Click here to continue Reading or watch the interview

Soils for Life programs demonstrate proven solutions in regenerative landscape management to increase the natural capital value of the Australian landscape – rural, regional and urban.

Posted on 23rd Jan, 2019 by Maarten Stapper

Biological Agriculture: a third way?

Dr Maarten Stapper presented this talk for the 10th International Permaculture Convergence in September 2011 at Wadi Rum, Jordan. It gives an overview of emerging regenerative farming practices, away from high-input industrial farming. Biological Farming is a regenerative, agroecological practice between the opposites of industrial and organic farming. This 3rd way of farming takes the best practices from both while maximizing soil health, and water and nutrient use efficiencies.

Continue reading →

Posted on 6th Dec, 2018 by Maarten Stapper

Mass Produced Food Causing Allergies and Illness

A warning that modern methods of producing marketable fruit and vegetables are leading to increases in allergies and illness, especially in young people. In the latest interview in the Soils For Life video series, Dr Maarten Stapper says foods grown in soils depleted of essential minerals and soil carbon, and treated with chemicals, are lowering our immune systems. “The food that we buy is now less nutritious than it was in the past, and that is because the food has lower mineral content, lower nutrients like antioxidants and vitamins, and it also has likely chemical residues and a higher water content”, Dr Stapper says.

Click here to continue reading and watch the interview.

Soils for Life programs demonstrate proven solutions in regenerative landscape management to increase the natural capital value of the Australian landscape – rural, regional and urban.  

Posted on 6th Dec, 2018 by Maarten Stapper