Ground conditions vary greatly across the country with many farmers on heavy soils still not able to travel to apply fertiliser. With grass demand rising, it is important to get fertiliser applied as soon as weather allows.

Where grass supplies are running behind target and no fertiliser has been applied to date, spreading 20 to 25 units nitrogen on farms with an average stocking rate (two to 2.5 ewes per acre) and 30 to 35 units on heavily stocked farms will help to kickstart growth. Farms with a good supply of grass should still be mindful to get 20 to 30 units nitrogen or slurry applied after grazing to keep grass supplies ahead of demand.

The importance of this is emphasised in the experience of the last two seasons with tight grass supplies in April and early May. Where soils are low in phosphorus, there will be merit in applying a compound fertiliser early in the year to help the sward meet its yield potential. Teagasc advice from Mark Plunkett is detailed in Table 1.

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