Irish Independent - Farming

NITROGEN IN CATCH CROPS AND GRASSLAND NEEDS CAREFUL MANAGEMENT

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NEW research from Teagasc shows that while there is finally some improvemen­t in in terms of pH, Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) levels, our soils are still far from optimum fertility and the requiremen­t for significan­t investment in fertiliser­s continues.

While they don’t come cheap, fertiliser programmes to address soil fertility issues are not complicate­d.

There are three layers to a fertiliser programme: the soil pH level; the Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K) status, and the appropriat­e nitrogen (N) rate to be applied.

Unless the soil pH level is at a workable level, growth response to any nutrient applied, whether that is N, P or K will always be disappoint­ing. If the soil P levels or soil K levels are deficient, response to applied N will also be muted.

There is no point applying more nitrogen on a soil that is deficient in lime. The crop, be it grass, cereal, potato or vegetable, just won’t respond.

A soil sample costing €30 will determine the soil pH level. One tonne of lime costs slightly more than one 50kg bag of compound fertiliser. If the soil is lime deficient, that bag of compound won’t work the way it should. If a soil is seriously lime deficient, it is better to spend money on rectifying the soil pH first and spend little or nothing on any other fertiliser.

The applicatio­n of lime often has an added benefit of releasing previously applied nutrients that were unavailabl­e as they couldn’t be ‘activated’ because of the soil pH issues. So in the absence of applying other nutrients, lime applicatio­n can result in the soil supplying other nutrients to the crop from reserves, so there is a ‘double whammy’ benefit from applying lime.

Once the soil pH has been addressed, the next step is to build up the P and K levels.

There are two main sources of P and K: applicatio­n of inorganic or chemical fertiliser and through recycling of organic nutrients.

For a well-run livestock farm, the recycling of nutrients is normally a simple process: apply the slurry or farmyard manure back on to the land from which the silage or hay that was fed to the livestock came from.

Where soil P and soil l K level are at optimum levels, the only P and K offtake from a livestock farm is through sales of livestock, meat or milk. Concentrat­e feed brought on to the farm can replenish a lot of this nutrient loss, as concen- THE catch crops and short term grass crops that were sown last autumn now require management and decisions. Given the excellent growing conditions experience­d this autumn and winter, many of these crops are in excellent rude health, which may cause issues.

First and foremost the option of offtake must be considered, whether, pit, bale, zero graze or best option of all, actual graze. Running these crops through sheep and cattle will act as the best ‘bio-stimulant’ possible to worn out tillage fields.

In the absence of offtake, these crops must be managed carefully.

Microbes

trate feed contains quite a lot of P and K.

So for a farm with good overall soil nutrient status, the overall P and K requiremen­t is While these crops contain huge amounts of nitrogen that potentiall­y will be available to future crops, this material has to be broken down by soil microbes, which will take up available nitrogen during the breakdown process.

If not managed correctly, the breakdown of the cover crop will be like a bad dose of indigestio­n for the soil.

The microbes will take up all available nutrients in the soil and will starve the emerging commercial crop of fertility and could cause establishm­ent problems. The cover crop is creating a relatively modest on an ongoing basis.

Where soil P and K levels are high in a highly stocked holding, it may not be the best economic or environmen­tal use of these expensive and useful nutrients to recycle them back on the farm.

A well-designed nutrient management plan is invaluable in determinin­g where the excesses are and where more nutrients can usefully be applied.

Organic manure sources, whether from cattle slurry, farmyard manure, pig and poultry slurry, or spent mushroom compost, are very viable sources severe disadvanta­ge to the following crop, not an advantage.

To minimise this risk, the cover crops should be incorporat­ed at the first opportunit­y in the spring, and chopped up very finely. Subsequent crop sowing should be delayed as much as is practicabl­e to give the microbes a chance to get their processes complete before the emerging crop calls upon soil reserves in which to grow. Cover crops have the potential to make more nutrients available to spring sown crops, but the timing of this availabili­ty is crucial for successful management of these and subsequent crops. of P and K to meet tillage crop requiremen­ts. The benefit in terms of nutrient loading is only part of the picture.

Biological activity

Organic manures bring biological activity to our increasing­ly damaged tillage soils, and the benefit from applicatio­ns of manures over and above the nutrient content is becoming more and more apparent to those that make the effort.

This brings us to the third layer of the process: nitrogen applicatio­n.

We are in a fortunate position this year in that many grass and cereal crops are coming into the spring in a very strong position.

In many cases Nitrogen applicatio­ns will have to be adjusted to take this strong growth into account.

Whether grass or cereal, initial Nitrogen applicatio­n may be delayed, reduced or eliminated altogether. This can reduce costs, which is a straight benefit.

However, it is also crucial to take over-winter uptake into account as excessive early growth may cause lodging, which will reduce grass quality and be hugely detrimenta­l to cereal crop yields.

LIME CAN HELP ACTIVATE PREVIOUSLY UNAVAILABL­E NUTRIENTS

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