HORTUS TECHNICAL SERVICES
LAUNCHES REEF SMART PROGRAM
19.02.2010

Just five months after Hortus Technical Services (HTS) expanded its capability as an independent agronomic services company through it’s acquisition of Crop Tech from John Deere Water, Hortus has been busy developing it’s expansion program – launching a new suit of soil, sap and water testing services that offers cattle, cane, cotton, fruit and vegetable producers choice. In addition they have consolidated their position in the Australian market and added significantly to the national team, based out of Bundaberg.

The announcement this week that Hortus Technical Services has launched an integrated agronomic management service with compliant soil testing services, was well received by cane growers and cattle producers up, down and in from the coast. Hortus Senior Agronomist, Andrew Bauer and Laboratory Manager Dr. Angela Hanke have worked closely with Government and Industry to ensure the new program being launched met the Australian industry’s rigorous best management practice guidelines, and the Queensland Government’s regulatory requirements, especially with the recent introduction of The Great Barrier Reef Protection Amendment Bill 2009 on 1 January 2010. Hortus has specifically designed the S10 and S11 tests to meet specifications required by the current proficiency testing program underway.

Crop inputs, including fertiliser which can account for up to a quarter of growers’ yearly spend, are expensive and soil testing is the first of many steps to determine appropriate nutrients to maximise crop quality and yield. Hortus is confident that as an independent, Queensland based, certified laboratory with 20 years of local experience based on growers historical data, it gives growers an informed choice of what is needed and allows them to decide what fertiliser to buy.