IOW, generally there is far too much nitrate in ag soils at any given time. The odds are high that the trace minerals are in imbalance, greatly reducing the overall potential of the crop as well as its ability to take up the nitrates.

In the soil nutrition workshop I am attending this winter, they say that once the soil life system is in good balance there is in fact no need to add nitrogen to get good yields. Both the conventional and standard organic practice make the mistake of using far too much, and many problems are created by excess nitrogen.

I went to Pancho's for dinner last night. About 3/4 of the way through the meal I noticed a rapid down-regulation of high-affinity influx as I became taco replete.

Pn, what does this mean "once the soil life system is in good balance"? How does one quantitatively determine "balanced", please elaborate. Agreed on the overuse of N sources, I once had a rent-a-garden plot neighbor who maintained a layer of animal manure about a foot deep on their greens plot and they irrigated the plot often, overhead. Mind you, this was an organic garden in the sand of rainy, rainy FL. Wonder where all the N went?

Garg, that sounds uncomfortable :)

Sorry, the wording in those papers cracks me up sometimes. :P

On a side note, I wish they would have mentioned low affinity influx, if even to say they weren't looking at that. That would be cool if they weren't. It's not like it would throw their point into a pit or propel it into the stratosphere. But it would just be interesting to know if they were or not and if not, why.

If I had $40.00 burning a hole in my pocket I'd have gotten the whole article, maybe low affinity influx is mentioned in the disussion.

I think it means when there are sufficient and balanced levels of micro and macro soil nutrients (minerals), sufficient "energy" in the soil, and a high level of plant, animal, and microbe activity. IME, letting plants go to their perennial cycles lends greatly to the latter two items. Creating a miniature forest, IOW.

Again Pn: what is "balanced", as you use the term, and how does one quantitatively determine the condition in a soil? If it is not possible to do so then the concept is only an unproven, possibly untested theory. I'm not big on unproven, let alone untested theories other than as food for thought. Please aim me to any research and/or elaborations you are aware of testing the balance theory you speak of.

If I had $40.00 burning a hole in my pocket I'd have gotten the whole article

Yeah, I'm curious but not 40 bucks worth of curious.

As I use it the term regarding soil and plant life I am talking about having a mix of perennially and annually cultivated crops, a balance between letting things grow and controlling them by various methods. My quantitative determination is based on what I get in return for inputs of water and ferts as compared to what is required in more conventional arrangements that I use.

What I have found is that the system that I allow to 'balance' requires very little input other than labor. The other systems require much water and N as well as mechanical and human activity. Of course balanced systems will have deficits based on their natural conditions. Mine has droughty soil and so certain crops produce poorly. In better conditions a balanced system as I am describing it could be very productive indeed.

Thanks Pn, I think I understand what you meant now. I didn't know there were parts of MA that were dry enough to at times benefit from irrigation, it is a way of life out here unless one is growing wheat, milo, soy beans or alfalfa.