Changes allow scope to tackle low soil fertility
The recently announced changes will result in the permitted rates of P fertiliser being more closely aligned to soil and sward requirements.
More significantly, the new rules provide considerably more scope to address low soil P fertility issues on farms.
Low levels of P in soils have become an increasing issue in recent years.
The changes to the nitrates regulations took effect on January 1. (Note records being submitted by farmers for 2013 must comply with the old rules in place in 2013).
There are three main amendments to how the grassland P allowances are calculated.
In summary (see panel), the changes have increased the total overall P allowance on farms above 1 LU/ha (85kg per hectare of organic nitrogen) and reduced the impact of concentrate feeds and slurry on the allowance of chemical P fertiliser. The net result will be an increased P allowance on many farms; on some farms, P can be applied where it has not been allowed for years.
The accompanying graphic describes the impact on a 40ha farm under the new and the old rules. It is important to note specific allowances of P will vary between farms due to differences in stocking rates, soil test results, and concentrate feed inputs. It is also important to have the calculations done for your own individual farm circumstances.
The example shown in the graphic assumes 750kg of concentrate feed, and that the farm is all in grass.
Additional P is also permitted for reseeding, but this is not included in this example. It is also assumed that the whole farm has been soil tested, and has an even spread of soils at index 1 (very low for P) to 4 (high).
The graphic shows that:
¦ Even though the total P allowance has been decreased on farms stocked at less than one livestock unit per hectare, the chemical P allowance has still increased slightly, due to the changes in the concentrate feed and slurry P adjustments. However, this would not be the case if no soil test results were available.
¦ The chemical P allowances on the more highly stocked farms have gone up by a factor of between 2 and 3. For example, at 2LU/ha in this scenario, the increased P allowance is 240 kg of P, which would equate to an additional four tonnes of 18-6-12 on the farm.
The biggest change is the ‘reduced availability of P’ in slurry. However, to avail of this requires soil test results to be available on the farm.
This is critical. In the past, soil test results were perceived negatively by farmers, as identification of index 4 soils dramatically reduced the P allowed on the farm overall.
Under the new rules, the soil test results are the key to being allowed to apply more P rather than less.
All farmers should be getting soil test results for the whole farm, to ensure that the fertiliser applied to each field is appropriate for the soil and plant requirements.
Fertiliser is too expensive to be making decisions in the absence of soil tests results.
Slurry and organic fertilisers should be targeted to fields that are low in P and K (based on soil test results).
The advantage with the new rules is that farms which have a genuine requirement for additional P now have more flexibility to use it.
However, just because the P allowances may have gone up on a farm, it doesn’t mean you have to spread it.
There are many cases where the additional P may not be required, or is not cost-effective to apply. So it is important to look at the far m’s requirements and match fertiliser to the needs of your soils and f ar m system. Also, remember that while the new rules focus specifically on P, other nutrients such as lime, potassium (K) and sulphur (S) are also critical.
While the regulations put a strong focus on P, getting all of these nutrients supplied in the correct proportions is critical.
Having sufficient K and S as well as P is essential if you are to maximise the return on fertilisers.
Grazed swards will require between 15 and 40 kg/ha of K for maintenance. Silage swards require 125 kg/ha of K for first cut and 35 kg/ha for second cut.
Apply slurry on soils low in K, to build fertility (to convert to units per acre, multiply kg/ ha by 0.8).
Farms with lower stocking rates have the option of importing organic fertilisers onto the farm to offset chemical fertiliser requirements.
Pig slurry is an excellent fertiliser for grassland, especially as a cost-effective way of rebuilding soil P fertility levels.
Having soil test results is essential if you are to avail of this.
Ensure that organic fertilisers are targeted to fields that will give the best response.
Check with your adviser to see how much organic fertiliser you could transfer onto the farm.
You may be pleasantly surprised to see how much you could potentially save on bagged fertilisers.
¦ Report by Stan Lalor, Teag asc Crops, Environment and Land Use Prog ramme, Johnstown Castle, from Tea g asc’s Today’s Farm magazine.
It is important to continue to monitor your cash flow. There can be a lot of bills in the first quarter of the year, at a time when the milk cheques are small.
What can you do in the coming months to improve cash flow? Your ambition must be to maximise the expected surplus cash flow at the end of the year.
If you want to change the amount of surplus cash generated by your farm, you need to do something about it — that means doing something different.
Don’t wait until later in the year to start. The two biggest costs on profit monitors analysed to date for 2013 were feed (6.4cpl) and fertiliser (2.9cpl).
Between them, these two costs accounted for almost 40% of total costs.
Thus, it makes sense to concentrate on these. ¦ Consider your farm stocking rate, both on the milking platform and overall.
Overstocked far ms will have higher costs, but may not have higher profits.
¦ Match cow numbers to available milk quota for this year, the last quota year.
While it is tempting to milk more cows, it may be better to carry extra bulling heifers and/or female calves, and you will be ready for 2015/2016, with extra cash.
¦ Manage your herd to optimise milk solids production.
¦ Spread nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertiliser according to your farm’s requirements.
¦ Aim to minimise meal feeding by maximising the quantity of grass included in the cows’ diet.
Use the spring rotation planner.
