In this issue..

Planning a bumper crop
Which aspects of crop
nutrition do you
intend to look closer
at for spring 2016?
What advice or information
source is most likely to
influence your approach to
crop nutrition?
Where do you see the
most significant
advances in crop
production coming
in the next year?
Have you adjusted the
proportion of N applied
early to winter barley,
and if so, by how
much?
Soil analysis for
phosphate/potash
Soil nitrogen
measurement
Nitrogen product type
Nitrogen timings
Sulphur product type
Yes
No
Not applicable
Sulphur timings
None
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
10% 25% 50%
the high biomass hence high yields.”
Rainfall and sunlight can’t be controlled,
but they can be monitored, and then other
aspects can be tailored more closely for
those aiming for a bumper harvest in
2016. Over 90% of growers responding to
the survey said soil analysis for P&K would
be a key aspect they’d be looking at
(see charts left).
While this is important, David Beck’s
concerned that less than half of growers
feel soil nitrogen measurement warrants
attention. “I’m surprised that growers put
nitrogen timings as more important than
finding out what’s left in the soil. A high
yield means the crop will have drawn on
soil nitrogen reserves, so it’s worth taking
some N Min samples to gauge what’s left
as well as looking at timings.”
For almost 80% of growers, it’ll be either
the farm agronomist or their own
experience that will be the main influence
on the nutrition approach in spring 2016.
But David Beck notes there are other
avenues worth exploring.
“There can be a tendency simply to
do the same thing, but a manufacturer
website can be a good place to start to
explore other avenues. So far only 70%
of growers have bought some of their
requirements for 2016, so the market’s a
little way behind where it usually is. That
means there’s plenty more product to
bring onto farm, and that’s where you can
open out your purchasing decisions.”
CF Fertilisers agronomist Allison Grundy
agrees that 2016 could be the ideal year
to do something different. “One thing to
try for instance is to make a sulphur
application with every N application, rather
than applying in one dressing –– Single
Top (27N 12SO 3 ), for instance, allows that
flexibility. With N/S compounds currently
priced at parity with Nitram, it’s a very
simple way to improve your system.”
In the longer term, she tends to agree
with growers that soil and cultivation
methods are where the most significant
advances in crop production may lie
(see chart left). “We don’t give soil the
attention it deserves, on average only 60%
of applied N is recovered by the crop ––
meaning 40% of your fertiliser investment
is being recycled in thesoil system.
“But getting it right means getting
everything right (see panel on p43)
–– monitoring not only your soils, but
your crop and ensuring all planets are
in alignment and all marginal gains are
explored. If we can exploit the genetic
potential of current varieties by developing
the agronomy and adapting to seasonal
conditions, we have a good chance of
achieving those higher yields.” ■
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44 crop production magazine december 2015