TONY FAWCETT on April 20, 2017
GIPPSLAND farmer and inventor Niels Olsen says sales of his SoilKee pasture renovator have risen markedly in recent months following findings it can aid in the accumulation of carbon credits. The worth of the renovator, which aerates the soil with minimal pasture disturbance while burying organic matter, top-dressing with soil and drilling seed into the rows, is being evaluated in a three-year Healthy Soils Sustainable Farms study on the 457ha grey loam property of Madeline Buckley and Ross Batten at Buffalo, in South Gippsland.
While that study is not due to finish until next year, Niels said results were shaping up as similar to those of a year-long independent study (click to Soilkee Renovator summary doc) conducted on three Gippsland properties by farming systems agronomist Maarten Stapper up to May 2014.