The Farmers Mailbox

The technological revolution in farming practices has allowed us to clear and cultivate more land, grow plants and animals faster, and kill a greater variety of pests and diseases than ever before. Unfortunately, these efficiencies are proving to be unsustainable in the long term and have created problems such as soil structural decline, erosion, salinity, soil acidification, loss of fertility, nutrient loading of waterways, dams and a build up of chemical residues.

This book is about foreseeing and understanding such problems and addressing them before it is too late. John Mason examines all these problems and explains the concepts and long-term benefits of sustainable farming systems such as permaculture, biodynamics, organic farming, agroforestry, conservation tillage, and integrated hydroculture.

Sustainable Agriculture 2nd Edition also looks at important issues such as monoculture versus polyculture, the use of hybrids, selection criteria for plants and stock, integrated pest management and preparing a farm for droughts and floods. Other areas examined include diversifying into farm tourism and value adding before selling produce.

Features

● Explains the different sustainable farming systems
● Covers how to manage change to implement sustainable farming
● Provides strategies from a cross-section of countries
● Explores new areas such as farm tourism and value adding
● Investigates weed control without chemicals

Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 Different things to different people
Chapter 2 Sustainable concepts
Chapter 3 Soils
Chapter 4 Water management
Chapter 5 Pest and disease control
Chapter 6 Sustainable natural weed control and cultivation
Chapter 7 Management
Chapter 8 Managing plants - crops and pastures
Chapter 9 Managing plants – tree plantings and windbreaks
Chapter 10 Managing animals in a more sustainable way
Chapter 11 Understanding products used in sustainable agriculture
Appendix
Index

Reviews
“No doubt, the book will be useful to environmentally aware farmers, particularly in Australia.”
Sayed Azam-Ali (Experimental Agriculture v.40, 2004)

“This well-researched, down-to-earth book makes for a good introduction to the principles and practices of more sustainable soil, water, crop, stock, pest, weed and disease management. It’s a must-have for small hobbyists, full-time farmers and big corporates alike. . . jam-packed with useful tips, hints and full-blown strategies for better farm businesses, better conservation on farms and altogether better farming.”
Habitat Australia, February 2004

“This is an important guide for students, farmers, conservationists and anyone interested in sustainable agriculture options . . . It does include plenty of useful advice that can be applied immediately.”
Conscious Living, Issue 65 2004

“Much information is summarised into points and charts, making it easy to find and clear to read. The book would be useful for anyone on the land wanting to incorporate sustainable farming methods into their daily life, as well as student, enviro groups and even gardeners.”
Grass Roots, no.161 Feb/Mar 2004

Readership
This text will be an important guide for students, farmers and policy makers as well as conservationists and environmental groups.

A practical reference for farmers and land managers covering soil issues commonly encountered at the farm level. Written in a straightforward style, it explains the principles of soil management and the interpretation of soil tests, and how to use this information to address long-term soil and enterprise viability.

This book demonstrates how minerals, trace elements, organic matter, soil organisms and fertilisers affect soil, plant and animal health. It shows how to recognise soil decline, and how to repair soils affected by nutrient imbalances, depleted soil microbiology, soil erosion, compaction, structural decline, soil sodicity and salinity. The major problem-soils – sodic soils, light sandy soils, heavy clay soils and acid sulphate soils – are all examined.

With this information, farmers and land managers will be able to consider the costs and financial benefits of good soil management.

Contents
Preface
The nature of Australian soils
Soil pH
Nutrient balance in the soil
Carbon in the soil
Nitrogen in the soil
Phosphorus in the soil
Potassium in the soil
Magnesium in the soil
Trace elements in the soil
Soil cations
Sulphur in the soil
Aluminium in the soil
Soil sodicity
Soil analysis results
Encouraging soil biological activity
Earthworms
Biological farming
Components of soil fertility
When to apply fertilisers to plants
Soil erosion
Repairing and preventing soil erosion
Soil compaction
Soil structural decline
Water movement in soil
Urbanisation in rural areas
Appendices

Author Information
After training in farm management at Dookie College, Roger Hall spent a number of years working on farms in Victoria and the NSW Riverina. He has worked with the Victorian Soil Conservation Authority, the Rutherglen Research Institute and at Dookie College as a soil conservation instructor. One of his many achievements has been a major study on soil management in the Murray-Darling Basin funded by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. He now works as a private consultant conducting soil investigations as well as running his own farm, which includes horticultural production of tree seedlings and vegetables.
192 pages - Paperback

Riesling, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes can make magnificent wines but there are also many other excellent wine varieties that for many of us are rarely experienced.
Australian Vines for Wines will expand the wine lover’s knowledge and appreciation of a great range of wines and help to explore their individual preferences for specific varieties, blends, flavours and styles.
This book is based on the highly successful Wine Grape Varieties, which is an aid to identifying grape vines.
Vines for Wines, however, focuses on wines from the average consumer’s point-of-view, introducing the different wine grape varieties and the wines made from them, including blends.
Each variety is represented by a colour photograph of the grape variety, its current world plantings, wine produced and notes describing the varietal characters for each wine grape variety.
The tasting terms and wine notes for each variety provide a benchmark for the consumer to assess the quality of wines they drink, and to allow them to share and compare their experiences confidently with other wine lovers.
Features
• Easy to read and assumes no in-depth knowledge • Explains tasting terminology and wine styles
• High quality colour photographs
Contents: Preface, Introduction
Wine Terminology, Wine and Health
A Brief History, Wine Grape Varieties and Their Wines, Synonyms
Further Reading
Australian, 104 Pages, Paperback

A step by step guide to making vests, belts, wallets by home tanning and hand-working furs and leathers.
In Tan Your Hide, Phyllis Hibson explains just what you need to tan you own leather and fur, and the steps involved in doing it the correct way.
Steve Edwards explains how to make basic leather and fur products, with patterns that you can follow.
• The author tells us...
• What tools and chemicals to use.
• How to select the hide
• The steps to tanning leather and fur
• How to test for tanning
• Old time Indian tanning methods
• How to make you own dyes
• What to look for in leather quality
• Basic leatherwork techniques
U.S. Publication.
144 pages 30 illustrations

This manual is the essential safety tool for professional and recreational users of chainsaws.
It contains a comprehensive collection of easy-to-follow charts, colour illustrations and instructions covering basic, intermediate and advanced tree felling.
The first section of the manual covers safety issues, power head maintenance, the cutting attachment, sawchain design and sharpening, and basic crosscutting techniques.
The second section leads the user through the theory of simple tree felling, preparation and cross cutting sequences for different circumstances.
The third section covers problem tree felling involving leaning trees, dangerous and defective trees, trees with double leaders, trees lying across roads and the use of wedges, tree jacks and machinery such as tractors, bulldozers and cables.
Safety is paramount throughout the whole book and all the techniques described are covered by the national competency standards for chainsaw operators contained in the Forest & Forest Products Industry Training Package, which has been endorsed by the National Training Quality Council.
These standards form the basis for accreditation in government agencies.
Paperback 104 Pages, Colour Illustrations Author Bernard R Kestel (Forests NSW) Published May 2005