In the 1990s I got to know Jim Over from J.E. Over & Co. Ltd. an entrepeneur who I felt was ahead of his time regarding nutrition and the soil - He was offering an analytical and trace element service to farmers and growers - He took soil and tissue samples from individual fields and sent them away to a local laboratory for full spectrum analysis this showed levels of nitrogen, phosphate, potash and just as importantly 9 minor trace elements such as magnesium, maganese, zinc, boron etc Jim would produce a report enabling the client to see exactly what a specific crop needed in a specific field that year, this enabled farmers to know exactly what a crop needed without waste and runoff and often reduced the amount of fertilizer they actually needed.
This concept got me hooked on nutrient balances and the soil - I find it incredible that we don't fully understand the interactions and 'magic' of nutrients and bacteria within the soil.
I remember asking him once if he'd ever come across a field that didn't require treatment after analysis, he said only once and that was a field of permanent pasture which had never been ploughed, sprayed or had fertilizer applied but just grazed extensively for as long as the owner had records. Jim was so excited about the results despite the fact he would not be earning any money from that particular field!
Jims knowledge of trace elements and the way they work together within the soil and plant fascinated me and I started working with him and his business partner Nina in 1999. It was about a year later that we discovered some exciting results after using a certain cocktail of trace elements on a crop of wheat and Grazers was born!
