Precise application of fertiliser

A large crowd of fertilizer suppliers and their contract spreader agents attended the Precise Application of Fertilizer event held at Gurteen Agricultural College recently.

This event was organised by the Fertilizer Association of Ireland in association with Teagasc and the staff at Gurteen College. The aim of the event was to up skill people on getting the best out of their fertilizer spreader.

There were five workshops on the day, including fertilizer spreader calibration, safety around fertilizer spreading such as handling of big bags. There was a wide range of high-end machinery on display at the event, with most of the spreader manufacturers represented.

Mark Plunkett, Teagasc and President of the Fertilizer Association of Ireland said: “The precise application of fertilizer plays a major role in helping farming systems to reach their production and profitability goals, while also protecting water quality and reducing both Greenhouse gas (GHG) and Ammonia emissions from agriculture.”

Dermot Forristal, Teagasc researcher, emphasised the three essentials for precise and even spreading: a well-designed spreader; good quality fertilizer of known characteristics; and the correct setting of the machine for the chosen fertilizer and bout width.

Wider bout widths and the anticipated increased use of urea make machine choice, and setting, more important. It is essential that spreader manufacturers have a database of spreading tests which operators can access by inputting their own fertilizer type either on-line or by phone app, to get the appropriate spreader settings.

Modern spreaders are increasingly complex and are capable of wide spreading, but it is essential that they are supported by good setting information.

Francis Quigley, Teagasc Machinery Specialist spoke about the basic setup and spreader calibration. He explained the important role of the spreader vanes in getting accurate spread patterns, and encouraged users to check their own spreader vanes and replace them as needed.

He also demonstrated some of the mobile phone apps which are available from the machinery manufacturers; these make the task of correct setup much more user friendly.

At the fertilizer quality workshop John Carroll, Glanbia said that 80% of fertiliser granules should be between 2 to 4mm in size and for a blended fertilizer such as 18-6-12+S that there should be an even distribution of all 4 fertilizer ingredients (N, P, K & S) in the different size ranges.

John said: “That will help ensure an even spread and good distribution of all the major plant nutrients during the spreading operation.”