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Posts Tagged: Soil Fertility

‘Every €1 spent on lime gives a €7 return’

September 2, 2018

By Kevin McMenamin, drystock advisor, Longford Town Albert Einstein once said: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over…

Poor soil structure could cost up to £220/ha…but can you avoid common pitfalls?

August 22, 2018

Grass

Healthy soils are said to be the engine driving production on any farm; but just how much could poor soil structure be costing…

3 Irish colleges selected for project on ‘recycling-derived’ fertiliser

June 20, 2018

Environment

Three Irish colleges are set to take part in a major European project in soil nutrient sustainability that will seek to replace conventional…

Conacre ‘not to blame’ for all of NI’s land fertility issues

April 17, 2018

Agri-Business

Farmers who own ground need to take more responsibility for maintaining land fertility, a senior agri-business manager has warned. Speaking at an agri-economics…

Why getting the basics right is so important for soil fertility

March 19, 2018

By Gavin McGowan, technical sales manager with Target Fertilisers With margins so tight in the tillage sector – and the emphasis on grass…

‘We’re not using enough lime at all in this country’

February 14, 2018

Grass

At last night’s consultation meeting on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy in Co. Meath, farmers were urged to consider spreading lime…

How one farmer increased productivity from low-fertility soils

February 14, 2018

Beef

Farming in Portlaoise, Co. Laois, Paul Delaney – a beef and tillage farmer – rented 12.5ha of land in 2015. This land had…

To spread or to drill…the continuing question on phosphorus

February 2, 2018

Tillage

For decades, the debate on whether to incorporate or spread phosphorus (P) has been talked about at tillage conferences and seminars across the…

91% of drystock farms have insufficient soil fertility levels

January 31, 2018

Sheep

A worrying trend has emerged, which suggests that the soils on drystock farms have inadequate fertility levels to grow grass. Speaking at last…

‘Dairy farmers must think of grazing infrastructure as an investment’

November 29, 2017

Dairy

There’s huge potential to increase the amount of grass grown and utilised on Irish dairy farms, delegates at the Teagasc National Dairy Conference…

Grow 20% more grass without any extra artificial fertiliser – is it possible?

October 18, 2017

Grass

Irish drystock farmers are lagging behind their dairy counterparts when it comes to growing and utilising grass. Teagasc estimates that the average Irish…

Grass advice: Don’t generalise your closing cover targets

September 25, 2017

Dairy

As we plan to extend the grazing season, increasing the average farm cover (AFC) is now on most of our minds. Wet weather…

‘Compounds like 27:2.5:5 will not solve soil fertility issues’

August 31, 2017

Grass

90% of the soils analysed by Teagasc in 2015 had sub-optimal levels of soil pH, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). According to Teagasc’s…

Power grazing – Can it benefit ‘failing’ soils?

July 4, 2017

Tillage

Power grazing aims to increase soil fertility and organic matter (OM) in soils, according to Tim May, a UK-based arable farmer. May farms…

Rethink needed on fertiliser applications for tillage crops

June 30, 2017

Tillage

Farmers have been urged to give careful consideration to the fertilisers they use to grow tillage crops, as soil fertility levels have dropped…

AFBI launches free soil sampling and analysis service

June 10, 2017

N.Ireland

The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) has launched a free soil sampling and analysis scheme, which is available to livestock farmers in Northern…