This page is about the Mineral-Cycle, and how it works on your farm...

In a fully effective mineral-cycle, vegetation rapidly cycles through three distinct phases. Ideally, the complete cycle should take less than a year to complete. The components are:

1. Minerals move upwards - from below the soil surface to above the soil surface
Minerals are extracted and moved upwards via the plants roots


2. Minerals descend from above the soil surface, back down onto the soil surface
This movement can occur through a plants normal annual leaf drop, or by mechanical mulching. It can also occur when animals trample plants whilst they are grazing in a paddock. Finally, animals absorb from their food the minerals they require for themselves, and excrete the unused balance onto the soil surface whilst dunging and urinating


3. Minerals move back into the soil, ready to be cycled again
Organic material containing the returned minerals is broken down or ingested by millions of large and small soil borne living organisms, who either carry the minerals back into the soil, or they are washed back into the soil when it rains

You achieve a highly effective cycling of minerals by focusing on the condition of your soil surface, which you manipulate when using animals and/or machinery. Ideally the soil surface should be covered all of the time with some form of organic matter.

Poor mineral-cycle
This soil is severely eroded. The plant is sitting on a pedestal about 20 cm (8") high. All the soil and its minerals have been blown away. The remaining plant is old and unpalatable to livestock, and its cell structure is lignified. This means the plant cannot capture any solar energy.
The farmer is not likely to be making very much money on this property.

Indicators of a good mineral-cycle
Some of the simple indicators are:

• There is no plant material more than a year old
There are no undigested crop stubbles, or if you are a grazier, you will not have old grass plants hanging around. Minerals are being rapidly re-absorbed into the soil.

• A great diversity of deep rooted perennial plants
Deep rooted plants dramatically extend the volume of soil from which minerals can be extracted and re-absorbed

• Soils are porous and rich in organic matter
The organic matter becomes humus. Plant roots extract their mineral needs from humus rather than from soil particles

Where you should start...
A diverse mix of healthy, vigorous plants is the best way to get minerals cycling. If you are a grazier, then managing the time of exposure and re-exposure of plants to animals is incredibly critical. In a cropping situation, the relatively new technique of 'pasture cropping' will assist cycle minerals more rapidly, as more litter is produced and more microbes are sustained for longer each year.

You should monitor...
Keep an eye on soil cover. There are some excellent and very simple monitoring procedures you can use to assess soil cover. If you are using livestock, begin proper grazing planning, and be prepared to adjust stocking rate early, so that soil cover is maintained. Some people suggest that the biological consequences of creating bare soil during a low rainfall season or drought can require up to six years to heal. That is a big cost whichever way you view it. Covered soil is king!

Another indicator of minerals tied up and not cycling is cow and sheep dung sitting around on the soil surface for a long time. In a good cycle, all sorts of living organisms such as dung beetles, birds and micro-organisms rapidly decay the material back into the soil.

You can also usually assume that things are not well with the mineral-cycle if there is evidence of sheet, gully or rill erosion.

Other things to consider...
The mineral cycle is one of four linked cycles. Be watchful for evidence that any cycle is moving out of line, as deviation by one will eventaully pull all of them down, dramatically increasing costs and reducing profitability.