Maximising the effectiveness of the N you apply

Against the background of increasing pressure on costs, we've been thinking of ways to maximise the effectiveness of the nitrogen applied to the crop. Two methods are being much talked about this year - measuring Soil Nitrogen Supply and improving nitrogen use efficiency.

Measuring Soil Nitrogen Supply

Measuring Soil Nitrogen Supply at the start of the season is worth considering. Although quite fiddly to calculate, knowing how much nitrogen there is in the soil before you apply any can give valuable guidance as to what your first-pass N rates should be, thereby reducing the chance of using too much or too little. There are some good SNS calculators available including the AIC one.

Improving NUE

Nitrogen use efficiency improves as the plant takes up more of the nitrogen supplied. As well as generating better yields, improved NUE also means a better return on investment and increased environmental benefits. The data needed to measure NUE is similar to that used to calculate the carbon footprint of the crop which saves gathering new information.

A combination of BFS NitroSulph followed by PolyNPlus Foliars can help increase NUE. Guidance from NIAB for improved NUE is that 75% of nitrogen should ideally be applied to winter wheat by early April.

Applying NitroSulph at this stage maximises the effectiveness of the nitrogen in the fertiliser. Its superior sulphur source with both quick and slow release components means that, while some sulphur is made available to the plant immediately on application, the rest is gradually converted to plant-accessible form by bacteria in the soil, providing an ongoing supply of nutrient for several weeks. Application of BFS NitroSulph also lowers local soil pH, allowing locked-up nutrients, notably iron, phosphate and manganese, to be made available to the plant. NitroSulph is more concentrated than other available products, so application rates can be lower. This all contributes to improved NUE.

A final application of PolyNPlus Foliars when the leaf canopy is established can substitute for 50kgN/ha of soil-applied N. The NUE of PolyNPlus is 100% when correctly applied so the resulting overall NUE of the crop can be in the industry's desired 75% to 90% target range.

More information

We'd be very happy to discuss further if this is of interest. Do ring on 01245 325849.