Chemical fertiliser strategies during challenging conditions

Research officer with Teagasc, Michael Egan, advised farmers to get chemical fertiliser onto paddocks that are suitable, and to target dryer land with fertiliser.

Egan said that only a quarter of chemical fertiliser that would usually be bought out around this time of year, has been.

He said that it should be in order and in the yard ready to go, as once the weather breaks, there will be a backlog.

Fertiliser

The Teagasc research officer outlined how chemical fertiliser applications should be managed on farms, noting that the situation on every farm will differ from one another.

He said in a situation where chemical fertiliser applications are up to date, farmers should now be following the cows after grazing.

He said that for the majority of farms, this is not the situation, and that most farms are falling into the situation of having around 30kg of nitrogen (N)/ha spread or one round of fertiliser out in March.

He advised to leave four to five weeks and then apply another 30-35kg of N/ha, to get up to target rates, and then return a scenario of following the cows.

Farms that have only gotten slurry out earlier in the year and no chemical N out should be targeting blanket spreading as soon as conditions allow, the research officer said.

He added that depending on the clover and how much slurry has been spread, a bag of urea should be sufficient.

Egan reminded farmers not to spread chemical fertiliser on land that is water logged, or that is not travelable, to have soil temperatures of 6°c or above and not to spread when heavy rain is forecast in the next 24-48 hours.

Following grazing, slurry should be applied, but Egan said to prioritise chemical fertiliser due to trafficability of land.

Weather

If the weather improves, Egan said you can spread fertiliser in front of the cows, if you are in a situation where nothing is out.

He said that everything should receive N, unless the cows are currently in the paddock.

He explained: “We need to get grass growing, it has been reasonable good, but with very little grazing done, re-growths are really going to be hit.

“Spread everything as soon as conditions allow and for anyone that has no slurry out or fertiliser, go at parts of your farm that are suitable for spreading.”

Egan said if you have paddocks that have been grazed and damaged, you firstly don’t want to damage them again, but you want them to tiller out.

If there is a phosphorus (P) allowance on the farm, it should be targeted for paddocks that have been damaged.

Nitrogen strategy

Egan said that although fertiliser needs to go out now, it also needs to go out for the remainder of the year.

In a normal year, the target would be to have around 76 units of N out, however that is not the case for the majority of farms.

He said to follow what has been highlighted above based on your farm situation and then follow this plan for the remainder of the year.