Tillage farmers must soil test and then act on the results obtained, if they are to best manage their crops in light of the challenging fertiliser market that now exists.

This was the firm view expressed by Teagasc crops specialist Ciaran Collins, courtesy of his contribution to the latest Tillage Edge podcast.

“In cases where fields have phosphate indices of four and above, then there might well be no need to apply phosphate in these circumstances,” he said.

But soil pH values should also be taken into considerations when making such decisions, he added.

“Every farm must have a nutrient-management plan – this is the first step,” he continued.

“This allows the farmers to gauge the actual amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K) that are actually required for the business.”

According to Collins, growers must make the most efficient use of the crop nutrients that are available to them. This means bringing in organic manures, which can lead to good savings being achieved.

“Later in the spring, optimising N uptake is critical. Break-even ratios come into play here

“Another thing is the detailed knowledge that each farmer has of the individual fields that he manages.

“No two fields are the same. The optimum level of N for a crop can be different in two adjoining fields.

“Some fields of barley will deliver an optimal yield on the back of 100 units of nitrogen. But for other crops the figure could be up at 140 units.”

When asked if farmers might consider buying fertiliser to offset a future tax bill, he said:

“It’s very difficult to sense how markets will perform over the coming months.

“But the general principle of a grower forward-buying fertiliser on the back of the forward prices he has secured for particular year’s harvest remains a strong one, from an overall budgeting point of view.”

He added:

“There are good forward prices for grain available at the present moment.

“Cost of finance and ensuring that there is enough money in the business to secure the inputs required, when needed, are also issues that need to be discussed by growers with their banks.”

Collins defined the break even ratio (BER) as the crop yield needed to pay for a kilogramme of N.

He further explained:

“As growers apply N to a crop, yields increase. However, a stage will be reached when the additional yield achieved does not pay for the cost of the incremental N applied.

“So, if there are large changes in the ratio, we need to make alterations to the crop recommendations.

“Typically, in the past BERs were in the region of 4:1. Currently, the figure could be up to 10:1.”

Collins concluded:

“Taking account of current grain and fertiliser prices, tillage farmers could be looking at a 20kg N/ha reduction as we move into the spring of 2022.”