Nutrient Management Planning
Your manure resources are valuable. They need to be well managed to reduce fertiliser costs and contribute valuable organic matter that improves your soils. This becomes even more important if you’re farming in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) where limiting nitrate pollution and keeping water quality high is a priority.
HOW MUCH HAVE YOU GOT?
These are book figures for total nutrient content (not all the NPK is available immediately) sourced from the Fertiliser Manual (RB209): it’s a good idea to get your muck and slurry analysed to confirm the nutrient content and allow you to plan your applications more accurately.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
The savings can be quite considerable - the chart shows how much Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potash 3000gal/ac of slurry (the blue bars) contributed to growing 1st cut silage (26% of the Nitrogen, 50% of the Phosphate and all the Potash).
HOW MUCH DOES YOUR CROP NEED?
You will need to calculate this taking account of:
- your soil indexes and the recommendation for the crop you’re growing
- the nutrient resources you have available and the timing of application
Through the Farming Connect Advisory Service farmers can access up to 80% funding towards Nutrient Management Planning.