The Total Replacement Therapy Team

---

A passion to help farmers follow the same pathway as he did was the catalyst for David Law to start Forward Farming Biological Consultancy.

The former dairy farmer had followed a biological farming management path since 2002, achieving his goal of growing 19 tonnes of DM/ha using only 30 units of nitrogen/ha for the season.

He left the farm to fine tune the process and learn more in the area of biological farming, training extensively in soils, fertility and biological effluent management while developing his consultancy, which was started in 2013.

A particular passion of David’s is aligning whole-farm systems into what he has termed the Bio Circle: the natural working biology of the farm.

Total Replacement Therapy is the result ofyears of streamlining and fine tuning thisprocess - with the addition of high-quality natural fertilisers, minerals, nutrients and biology - to grow more grass with less synthetic nitrogen, at a lower cost.

Terragen Biotech has made huge strides in the agricultural biotech industry since its launch 10 years ago.

New Zealand general manager Karl Stokes, who dairy farmed in Tasmania for 26 years and became increasingly interested in the biological process, says the biotech solutions Terragen offers are a direct result of the challenges real farmers are facing.

The company, based in Queensland and recently listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, has two flagship products, both of which are integral parts of the Total Replacement Therapy method.

Great Land is a patented liquid biological soil conditioner which acts to enhance soil characteristics that enable better availability and utilisation of nutrients, improving yield and improving the plants ability to withstand periods of abiotic stress.

A 2016 dairy pasture trial found using Great Land saw an 7.4% increase in milk production, and a significant reduction in repeat mastitis.

Mylo is a liquid, live microbial feed supplement for livestock, designed to aid in building the population and activity of beneficial microbes in the gastrointestinal tract of livestock.

The University of Queensland recorded a weight gain conversion of more than 8%, as well as healthier calves, reduced illness, increased feed conversion, and quicker weaning (7-10%).

With more products under development, Terragen Biotech is positioning itself as a leader in the agricultural biotech industry.

Kiwi Fertiliser is a company whose business model has been built on

quality: quality staff, quality training, quality soil testing and quality products.

Working exclusively with Kinsey Agricultural Services (KAS) and Perry

Agricultural Laboratory, both of Missouri, USA, Kiwi Fertiliser start by undertaking a comprehensive soil audit on farm, before balancing the soil using the best quality nutrients and trace element sourced from around the world, custom-blended for the particular client’s needs.

Kiwi Fertiliser works on the ethos of providing a long-term solution rather than a short-term fertiliser fix, and their results support that theory: it is not uncommon for their clients to see a 35-50% increase in pasture production in 3-5 years.

With a Bachelor of Applied Science: Agriculture, the research undertaken by Total Replacement Therapy science advisor, Australian agronomist and animal and human nutritionist Peter Norwood, is grounded in chemistry and biology and has been fully quantified by the University of Missouri.

Peter’s natural curiosity about animal and human health presented some big questions before he studied under Neal Kinsey.

“I wanted to know why we were having a disease epidemic – what had changed?” he said.

“From plant analyses and tissue testing we found there were some critical minerals missing; we also found the soil was running out of nutrients and biology,” he said.

“Conventional farming works against nature, not with nature.

“So, we turned the conventional method of farming on its head.

“If you want to improve the health of animals, and people, you’ve got to start at the beginning of the food chain – and that’s the lactobacillus bacteria in the soil.

“There is a direct correlation between the soil, plant and animal.”

Peter is based in Maffra, Victoria, and consults to farmers both in Australia and internationally through his business, Full Circle Nutrition.