New season fertiliser: Soil test before you invest

We’re well into harvest and it’s also the time of year when growers are planning and ordering supplies for the new season.

When crop nutrition companies release new season prices, it can be tempting for busy growers to rush out and buy straight nitrogen – or opt for the same products they used last year – without a second thought.

But with sulphur deficiency seen in many soils, growers should consider the importance of investing in the right crop nutrition products, carrying out grain and soil testing – and keeping purchased products safe and secure.

Sulphur is an important for plant nutrition and a building block of protein production – fundamental for growth and development. So, don’t rush into buying fertiliser just based on price, consider that you’re probably likely to need sulphur too.

Boosting efficiency

There are real benefits to be gained from buying products that contain both nitrogen and sulphur in the same granule or prill. If crops have sufficient sulphur, it automatically increases nitrogen use efficiency by promoting better take-up.

Early applications of both nutrients followed by a ‘little and often approach’ throughout the season is not only more efficient, but it also makes things simpler as you have one product you can use for multiple application timings.

Nitrogen and sulphur product options include YaraBela Axan, and for those wanting high levels of sulphur, YaraBela Sulfan For even more efficiency, growers can consider using an NPKS compound product, which include phosphate and potash.

These products include YaraMila Actyva S, YaraMila 52 S and YaraMila ExtraGrass. While this approach has proven to be highly successful in Yara trials, it may not be the ideal way forward for everyone.

It’s not a viable approach for everybody because it is quite an expensive route to getting your nutrition in there. But from a purely agronomic kind of stance, if you’re getting all these nutrients on little and often, you’re making everything much more efficient.

Rather than focusing solely on nitrogen use efficiency, growers should look at overall nutrient use efficiency. That means having a strategy that includes all your key nutrients.

Magnesium, manganese and other key micronutrients that are going to make a difference. Where any of these are lacking it will impact upon yield, so the goal is to try and minimise any limitations.

Post-harvest testing

Grain analysis will help identify the effectiveness of a nutrient strategy. It’s a great way to look back at what’s been done this season, whether their strategy has worked, and what impact the weather has had on nutrient uptake.

This allows growers to identify any deficiencies and adapt their strategy accordingly. Post-harvest soil analysis can set growers up for the planning phase in October-December take the guesswork out of nutrient management planning.

As growers know only too well, the weather can affect even the best laid nutrient management plans, and it can affect product quality too. That’s why keeping new season supplies safe and secure is crucial.

Storage needs to be considered when growers are buying their fertiliser. Not everybody has the luxury of having a lot of overwinter storage, which means they are limited in the amount of fertiliser they can buy early.

But growers should certainly make sure storage conditions are good and that products are secure. That goes a long way to making sure that the quality of products is maintained all the way through the season.

Natalie Wood is Yara agronomy operations manager for Yara. For more details, visit www.yara.com