New season AN prices were launched in the UK at the end of May. Prices are approximately £50/t cheaper than last year's launch and nearly £40/t cheaper than the levels they were trading at recently.
With the delays that have been experienced getting on to the land this spring don’t forget to ensure the nutrient requirement of your soil and plants is calculated in the dash to get crops planted or animals turned out.
Treating maize crops with a combined fertiliser and fungicide treatment at tasselling stage has been proven to pay dividends.
As another weather front blows in across the whole of the UK and with cropping still unsure in a lot of areas, the thought of fertiliser applications may be at the back of grower’s mind.
We witnessed world prices for fertilisers fall towards the end of 2019, this has been helped further with a strengthening of the pound sterling. Manufacturers have now reset UK prices and are considerably cheaper than they were at the same time last year.
Many grassland farmers with a high stocking rate and significant feed inputs have moved away from using fertilisers containing P (Phosphate). But it’s important to know that even a maintenance application of P to keep soil indexes at target 2 can have an impact on grass yields.
Do you need Sulphur for 1st cut silage?
Although 2019 has been a great grass growing season, it’s never too early to plan and think about how to make the most of the 2020 season.
Use soil sampling now to reduce on-farm costs in 2020. As we know the nutrient offtake is likely to have been higher in 2019 than the previous year, due to improved yields across a wide range of crops.
With yields on cereal crops widely being reported across the industry as much as 1 tonne higher per acre, (2.5 tonne per hectare) than last year, and grass yields certainly outstripping 2018, grain stores and silage clamps are looking fuller going into the winter this year.
