Fertiliser spreading: what to watch for

As fertiliser spreading gets under way, many farmers start with last year’s spreader settings and make corrections along the way.

If you have to spread on 40 hectares in five fields you might spread the first field at 20% more than intended, then over-adjust and spread 15% less than intended in the second field. If the third field gets 5% more than intended, but you finally get it right in the last two fields, you have spread the correct overall farm rate, but were well outside target application rates for 40% of the land.