Soil scientist Andreas Kumann of independent testing laboratory Envirolab has been working on core samples taken from dairy farms that have been using natural fertiliser company Agrissentials ROK Solid fertiliser for more than a year.    His results show the loss of phosphate from the soil through leaching is 32-35% lower from farms using ROK Solid as compared to neighbouring farms using synthetic fertilisers.  The core samples also showed more water was retained in the naturally fertilised soils.

Comparative tests done on the Haughley experimental farm in southern England during the late 1940s and 1950s proved the superiority of natural farming processes over so-called conventional regimes.

In August last year Dr Hugh Campbell of Lincoln University presented the results of research he had conducted that clearly showed New Zealand farmers’ strong preference for natural farming methods over proposed genetically engineered systems.