Thursday, March 28, 2024
2.6 C
Galway
HomeFarming NewsHow much is being paid for fertiliser?
Reading Time: 4 minutes

How much is being paid for fertiliser?

The following article was written by Teagasc on April 22nd.

Growth is now outstripping demand for most farmers. Look at the regrowth on the first couple of paddocks grazed, are they ready to be grazed again?

It’s now the 22nd of April, the sun is shining, temperatures are up in the mid-teens and the grass growth for this week from PastureBase Ireland was almost uniform at between 48 and 50kg DM/ha/day.

For most, growth is now outstripping demand, which is important to start the second rotation.

Regrowth

The next part to look at is the regrowth on the first couple of paddocks grazed, are they ready to be grazed again? If so, it’s now time to end the first rotation and start the second if you have not done so already. There are typically three scenarios here:

- Advertisement -
  1. If you are heavily stocked, any fields that are not grazed to date should be mown for baled silage immediately and fertilised to get them back in the rotation, start grazing the first grazed paddocks.
  2. If you are lowly stocked you could apply an extra bag of fertiliser (30 units of N per acre) to the last un-grazed paddocks and let them in with the first cut silage if it’s going to be cut early to mid-May.
  3. If the un-grazed paddocks have light covers (unlikely), you could graze them and put a bag of fertiliser (30 units N per acre) on the paddocks grazed first this year and let them in with the first cut silage. Like in point 2, these paddocks could also double up as a safety blanket in the east of the country where conditions are getting dry.

The main point is, if your first paddocks are ready to be grazed and you try to finish grazing all your grazing ground, by the time you get back to the first grazed paddocks, they will be too strong.  

This will put you into a situation where you are chasing your tail for the next month to try and graze them out. Cattle will also be eating covers that are too high and therefore won’t be optimising weight gain.

Fertiliser

Fertiliser is the next part of the jig-saw. It’s critically important to have fertiliser out, follow each grazing with 18-30 units/acre of nitrogen depending on your stocking rate.

Tables 1 and 2 give example fertiliser programmes for two different stocking rates 1.5 LU/ha or 2.0 LU/ha, they are based on protected urea products.

Over the last 8 years, Teagasc has conducted trials on protected urea (urea + NBPT), as it is the most cost-effective form of nitrogen (14% lower cost compared to CAN).

However, perhaps more importantly protected urea reduces both greenhouse gases and ammonia losses and is the number one technology to meet environmental sustainability commitments.

Results also show that protected urea consistently produces grass yields and nitrogen efficiency that match that of CAN-based fertiliser programmes.

If you do not wish to use the suggested fertiliser products you can substitute in your own fertilisers based on availability into Tables 1 and 2, using the units/acre as your guide.

Always check your Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) for your fertiliser allowances (N & P), if you have not spread your allowance of phosphorous, apply now to maximise growth.

Tables 1 and 2 are based on a P & K Index of 2, match your stocking rate first and then check your NMP to get your P and K indexes and recommended rates.

Sulphur should also be incorporated into the fertiliser programme from now on, apply 16 units of sulphur per acre over the next three months).

Is protected urea more costly?

No, prices in € per tonne fertiliser and € per kg N delivered for the two main fertiliser N types available as per April 21st,2020. 

Fertiliser N Product

N content (%)

Cost per tonne (€)

Cost/kg N (€)

Protected urea

46%

370

0.80c

CAN

27%

250

0.93c

- Advertisment -

Most Popular