Working With Soil: Biological Tools for Organic Growers

Organic farming begins and ends with the soil. Without synthetic fertilisers to lean on, growers depend on rotations, manures, composts, and biology to keep nutrients moving and crops healthy. The approach works, but it also leaves organic farms facing familiar questions: where will the nitrogen come from, how do we keep soils biologically active, and how do we balance nutrition?

More and more organic growers are turning to biological inputs that complement the natural processes already occurring in their soils. At SFS, several products are finding their natural fit into organic systems. They don’t replace management, but they can make the system run more smoothly.

Clover leys and manures go a long way, but the demand for nitrogen rarely disappears. The atmosphere above every field is nearly 80% nitrogen gas; the challenge is making it available to crops. In healthy soils, free-living bacteria perform this function.

At SFS, we developed a sprayable option, suitable for organic growers. Bio-N is a formulation of nitrogen-fixing organisms, applied to the crop to support a steady trickle of nitrogen throughout the season. It’s not a N spike-like a bagged fertiliser application, but a slow-release feed that keeps cereals, vegetables, and grassland ticking over. For organic growers, it’s another way to harness what nature already provides.

Even well-managed soils have moments when biology falls quiet. Heavy cultivations, wet winters, or simple exhaustion after a demanding crop can leave nutrient cycling sluggish. This is where SFS inoculants can help. 

ActiV8-Bio contains a consortium of beneficial microbes, chosen for their ability to release locked-up phosphorus and potassium, stimulate root development, and suppress soil-borne disease. In practice, it acts like a jump-start, reinforcing the resident soil community so that nutrient release and crop growth resume their normal pace.

However, SFS doesn’t just support cereal growers; for livestock systems, grass serves as both the crop and the feed. Pastures can look green yet still fall short in the trace elements cattle and sheep need. The conventional answer is often mineral boluses, licks, or drenches – effective, but time-consuming and repetitive.

The BetterGrass product takes a different approach, delivering a balance of background nutrition directly into the soil and sward, so that animals get what they need through the

forage itself. Farmers using the programme often report not only healthier stock but also less labour around handling and dosing. Keeping nutrition within the pasture-based model and maximising stock efficiency, whether it be through milk or meat production.

None of these tools replaces compost, rotations, or careful grazing. They are simply ways of strengthening the natural processes organic systems rely on: nitrogen fixation, microbial activity, and mineral balance.

By supporting the soil community with targeted biology, resilience can be enhanced, crops remain greener for longer, roots can explore further, and pastures perform more reliably.

The principle remains the same: look after the soil, and the soil looks after you.

Want to know more about how SFS can help you?

Contact us today.