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February 2008
A happy 2008 to all our clients and subscribers!
SESL provides laboratory testing and technical support to our clients in the horticultural, agricultural, environmental and sports turf industries. So we’ve designed our monthly Fertile Minds newsletter to deliver information tailored to these subjects.
Each month we will send you your copy of the newsletter in HTML format. In each edition we present four or five articles touching on topics from the fields of soil, water, plant tissue, waste, environmental monitoring, contamination, legislation and compliance as they relate to you. We scour our database, library and professional experience to deliver topics of interest right to your email inbox.
If there are specific topics that you would like covered, please email your request to info@sesl.com.au.
If you have received our newsletter by mistake or would like to be removed from our mailing list, please go to the bottom of the newsletter you received and click on Safe Unsubscribe. This action will remove you immediately and you won’t hear from us again.
In this issue
- New price list coming ...
- The Loam Ranger – Noxious weeds
- Gypsum – what is it good for?
- Interpreting a plant analysis
- How salinity is measured
- Did you know ... ? – Coffee
New price list soon
Many of our regular clients will have noticed great changes at SESL recently. Upgraded sample handing processes, results reporting and issuing techniques, alternative laboratory methods and new testing packages are all part of our policy of innovation and continuous improvement.
The improvements are based largely on client and staff feedback and take advantage of the advances in hardware and software capabilities and electronic communications.
While some of our new packages require the adoption of alternative laboratory methods, none of these changes in any way diminishes the integrity or significance of our reported results, interpretation and recommendations. The Directors and staff of SESL are committed to maintaining an objective, science-based laboratory and consultancy service and will continue to improve our services.
The implementation of these many changes has resulted in the need for a completely restructured pricing model and a revision of the scheduled fees on many tests. The cost of many tests remains unchanged, and some costs are even reduced. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the new price list when it is distributed. Existing quotes will be honoured until they expire.
If you would like to receive a new price list when it is ready, please click here.
As usual, if you have any special testing or consultancy requirements, we would be pleased to discuss them with you and tailor a package and price accordingly. Please contact the office on (02) 9980 6554 or info@sesl.com.au with your request.
The Loam Ranger – Noxious weeds
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Dear Loam Ranger, I've been told I have noxious weeds on my place. What's a noxious weed and what should I do about them? The term 'noxious weed' is strictly a legal term, as opposed to 'environmental weed', which is any plant that invades natural systems. The NSW Noxious Weeds Act 1993 declares and classifies plants that are a danger to human health, serious economic pests or invaders of natural systems. Owners and occupiers of property are obliged to comply with this Act by removing these weeds. A noxious weed that is classified as a Class 1, 2 or 5 noxious weed is referred to in this Act as a notifiable weed. There are 5 weed control classes, any of which may be applied to a plant by a weed control order. Click here to see the definitions and a list of noxious weeds in NSW (1000 words, 4 minutes) |
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Gypsum – what is it good for?
Gypsum can help stabilise aggregate structure in some soils. Use of gypsum in other soils will not improve soil physical or chemical properties, so it is important to understand the processes that occur when gypsum is added to soil.
Water, air and roots move between soil particles and aggregates (also called peds). The pores between aggregates are fairly large, whereas the pores within aggregates and between particles are often too small for effective water movement or root penetration. Soil aggregate formation and stability, also called soil structure, is one of the most important manageable soil physical properties. In all but the sandiest soils, good aggregate structure is needed for water infiltration and soil drainage.
Click
here to learn where and how to use gypsum to improve your soil (750 words, 3 minutes)
Interpreting a plant analysis
Interpreting a plant analysis is not easy. Although the association between nutrient uptake and plant growth is well studied, we still don’t have enough data for a number of crops, particularly at the seedling stage, and for concentrations at or near toxic levels.
Fortunately we do know a lot about individual nutrients, and can determine whether nutrients taken up by a plant are in the adequate range or too low or too high. From this, we can determine how much extra to add or what to do to reduce the level.
How salinity is measured
Water and soil salinity are measured by passing an electric current between the two electrodes of a salinity meter in a sample. The electrical conductivity, or EC, of a soil or water sample is influenced by the concentration and composition of dissolved salts. Salts increase the ability of a solution to conduct an electrical current, so a high EC value indicates a high salinity level.
Salinity can be both measured and reported in a number of ways.
Did you know ... ? – Coffee
Coffee is made from the seed of a red berry from bushes of the genus Coffea. A typical coffee bush yields about 1 kg of coffee a year. There are more than a hundred species of Coffea, but robusta and arabica account for most coffee production. Around 70% of species are at risk of extinction because of habitat loss.
Records of coffee go back to the ninth century. Legend says that an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi noticed that his goats became hyper after browsing on coffee bushes. However, it is likely to have been consumed in one form or another for thousands of years. It was introduced into Europe in the 17th century, when the first coffee houses were opened in Vienna.
In Australia, coffee is grown in Queensland (around 800 t in 2005) and NSW (200 t). It is harvested mechanically, as labour costs cannot compete with those in third world countries.
Caffeine, present also in tea, kola nut and yerba maté, increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, which is why it is added to some of them. Ironically, caffeine withdrawal is a common cause of headaches. Women who drink 2 or more cups of coffee a day have an increased risk of developing osteoporosis, but this can be offset by dietary calcium. A high caffeine intake - more than 2 cups of coffee a day - during pregnancy can cause miscarriage.
Caffeine is known pharmacologically as trimethylxanthine, and has the chemical formula C8H10N4O2.
Coffee is decaffeinated by treating the green beans with water, supercritical CO2 (liquid at high pressure) or organic solvents. The removed caffeine is often added to soft drinks. Instant coffee is prepared by extracting ground roast coffee in water at up to 180 °C. The water is then either vacuum-evaporated or freeze-dried.
A rare type of coffee, called kopi luwak, is made from beans that have passed through the gut of a civet. The taste is distinctive, but whether or not it is better is debatable. This is the world’s most expensive coffee.