With the unpredictability in weather, the price of fertiliser, and the new constraints around how much fertiliser you can use, completing a fertiliser plan is more essential than ever.
Completing a fertiliser plan will allow you to choose the most suitable fertiliser types and amounts for your farm.
Nutrient planning will allow farmers to maintain appropriate soil fertility by applying the right fertilisers in the right place on the farm, at the correct rate and at the optimum time of the year.
With the introduction of the National Fertiliser Database (NFD), there has been an increase in soil sampling, with farmers aiming to improve their fertility, which further increases the demand for a fertiliser plan.
95% of farmers have registered for the NFD, meaning that these farmers have completed a closing stock of fertiliser left on the farm on the September 14, and had a month after that date to submit these records online.
Co-ops have to make regular returns to the database of the herd numbers that bought fertiliser, the date, type and amount of fertiliser purchased.
This monitoring and data collection has raised concerns amongst farmers who fear the possibility of exceeding their fertiliser limits.
With this in mind, it is important for farmers to complete a fertiliser plan so they can understand their fertiliser limits and what to apply to allow for maximum growth.
Fertiliser plan requirements
A Basic Income Support Scheme (BISS) application will be needed to show what crops are being grown and their areas in 2024 as every crop has a different allowance for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P).
When it comes to your grassland crops, the previous years grassland stocking rate (GSR) is used to work out the allowances for N and P.
This is calculated by getting the total N from grazing livestock and dividing it by the grassland area in 2023.
You will need to provide the total tonnage of concentrates fed to grazing livestock in 2023 and the total N from grazing livestock.
Having soil samples for your farm allows for easy allocation of fertiliser and slurry, and in order to get an accurate understanding of the soil fertility status, there should be samples from the last four years.
More information that has to be gathered is the amount of fertiliser and type that was carried into 2024 and what has been bought so far this year.
Finally, the amount of organic manures that have been imported into the farm in 2024 or planned to be imported must be noted.
Maximising efficiency
Although it might seem like another hindrance of a job to do, completing a fertiliser plan will give you guidance on where you stand, in terms of what fertiliser type and amount can be used in 2024.
It will allow you to plan ahead and be comfortable when spreading knowing your not exceeding limits, rather than finding out through an inspection that you have spread too much fertiliser.
Completing a fertiliser plan should be made a priority as you make decisions without the worry of exceeding limits, allow for maximum grass growth and apply suitable to your soil fertility status.
This means that you are maximising your output of fertiliser while minimising any wastage, as you are not spreading certain nutrients on paddocks that don’t lack or need them.