Bandicoot Blu Farm Products are unique in Tasmania - not only providing chemical free food but also high in nutrition as we practice biological farming.
We practice nutrition/sustainable farming (also known as biological) to bring you the best quality beef, lamb and blueberries. As the meat is grass fed – with a high mineral content – it is also high in Omega 3.
We have been practicing and studying this kind of farming for over fifteen years resulting in greatly improved soil health, lush paddocks, a certain level of drought resistance, and animals in glowing health without the need for chemical interventions.
All stock is bred and raised on the property. Stock feed is produced on the farm to avoid any contaminated introduced feed. Not only are the cuts of beef and lamb chemical free but also all other Bandicoot Blu products.
At the same time, we treat our animals ethically. They are not transported miles in stock trucks nor are they processed at large abattoirs but at a small local abattoir twenty minutes away. Respect is shown by first thanking them for the benefits they have provided and by using all the cuts of a carcass and not just a select few such as eye fillet or rump steak.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We aim to produce top quality, good tasting and, above all, healthy food.
We also believe in sustainable agriculture which not only protects good arable farmland for future generations but also the wider environment and wildlife.
HOW THIS IS ACHIEVED
Mineral content in the soil is analysed on a regular basis. A reputable soil testing laboratory does the initial work before passing the raw data to Nutri-Tech solutions for interpretation and recommendations.
On the blueberries, three or four leaf analyses are carried out during the growing season. The resulting report gives an indication of any mineral deficiency. To get top quality produce this must be rectified, usually with foliar sprays.
We also carry out regular BRIX or sugar levels in the blueberries. Twelve is a good reading but our blueberries consistently score between twenty-five and thirty
In the case of nitrogen, there are 74,000 tonnes in the atmosphere above every hectare. If everything is in balance in the soil, in the scheme of things, very little nitrogen is required as plants take it from the atmosphere.
Trace elements such as boron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, selenium, cobalt and silicon are added. Sodium is rarely needed.
Humic and fulvic acid, fertiliser magnifiers and growth stimulants, as well as kelp, liquid fish and compost tea are used to support and increase beneficial fungi and bacteria to protect plants from diseases and insects. Without fungi, bacteria and other soil micro-organisms minerals would not be plant available.
It has been known for over seventy years that all minerals are required to be in certain ratios. For example, we aim for a ratio of calcium to magnesium of 7:1. Surprisingly enough, or not, this is the same ratio required for a healthy human body.
With conventional farming, minerals have been stripped from the soil either by erosion or selling products (milk, meat and grain) from the property. Whatever is taken out must be replaced to maintain healthy crops and animals.
