With unpredictable weather patterns effectively shortening the growing season, maximising the accuracy and efficiency of fertiliser applications is crucial. Liquid fertilisers make precise and optimal applications possible, and there are potential benefits for farmers who want to make the switch from a solid system.
Liquid fertilisers can be spread further and faster. They absorb quickly so applications aren’t held up by less-than-ideal weather conditions as would be the case with solid spreaders. Then there’s the accuracy that’s possible, especially when it comes to headlands. “On headlands, you can be particularly accurate with a stream jet nozzle to fertilise to the edge of the crop and no further. There is no wastage, there’s nothing sent into a ditch, but equally it’s maximising that headland yield which is sometimes the part that’s lacking if you haven’t managed to spin a solid fertiliser far enough,” says Sarah Walby, account manager for Yara’s Crop Nutrition Services team.
A more targeted approach with liquid fertilisers is also becoming increasingly important as more land is entered into environmental schemes and less is available for food production. Farmers need to be as precise as possible in managing cropped ground and maximising crop nutrition to the land that’s available.
Liquids versus solids-what to consider
Converting to liquid from a solid system is easy and it’s convenient. Take Yara’s system, for example. It’s a tank-based system, so there are no bags to be unloaded, and tanks are rented out to farms, so there are no upfront costs to consider. What farmers thinking about making the switch do need to consider is their sprayer capacity. If spray capacity is already stretched in terms of size and timings, adding an extra process may bring more challenges than benefits. Where the sprayer isn’t an issue, Yara reports that when farmers do move from solid to liquid, they never go back.
Whether farmers opt for liquid or solid fertiliser, the advice as always is to get the soil pH and overall health right. Farmers are advised to carry out soil testing every 3-5 years, at the same time of the year, ideally when the soil is cool, and prior to any fertiliser or organic manure applications. This enables timely adjustment of the crop nutrition strategy and time to budget, if there’s a lot of liming to do. “We talk about a lot of cost in our industry, but the money being spent on correcting your pH is always going to be beneficial because plants that are below target can’t properly utilise the crop nutrition you’re applying,” adds Sarah.
Liquid product recommendations for winter wheat, barley, and OSR
This season, better conditions have meant there are more winter crops in the ground, resulting in a greater demand for nitrogen. For winter wheat and barley, Yara recommends applying one of its 7 key nitrogen and sulphur grades.
For farmers looking to be as precise as possible, Yara’s N-Tester technology enables easy tracking of nitrogen levels in winter wheat and barley.
Sulphur is often overlooked, but as a catalyst for nitrogen, it plays a crucial role in plant health and growth. It’s also an important component of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. To get the best out of sulphur applications, apply it throughout the season when the plant is in its period of active growth, ideally in the spring-summer. Sulphur is incredibly leachable and can be lost if applied in wet spells between autumn and February.
To ensure winter cereals are getting enough micronutrients including magnesium, manganese, copper, and zinc, farmers can look to products such as YaraVita Gramitrel. Just like the rest of Yara’s liquid offering, it’s highly tank mixable with most herbicides and fungicides.
Farmers growing OSR in the north of England have benefitted from having far less rainfall than their southern counterparts. This allowed for early drilling and as a result, crops are looking good going into the spring. To keep crops thriving, Yara’s advice is to contact one of its local area managers who can create a tailored OSR nutrition programme to keep crops fed all the way through to harvest.
On hand to help
For farmers who can see the benefits but feel overwhelmed by the idea of switching to liquids, there’s plenty of help and support available. “There’s a national team of Yara liquid people on the ground in your area that can help and offer guidance on how to store liquids, the legislation around them, how to apply them, and how they work as part of your crop nutrition strategy. There are a lot of different grades of product, but your local area manager can help you find the right grade for you. All you need to do is pick up the phone or send them an email,” says Sarah.
