Nutrients: Monday 13 January is the first day farmers in Zone A can spread slurry and chemical fertiliser. Farmers in Zone B will have to wait until 16 January and farmers in Zone C will have to wait until 1 February. Weather conditions for the uptake of nutrients were ideal early this week as air and soil temperatures were high. As luck would have it, the forecast for next week isn’t as good, with rain and colder temperatures forecast.
As tanks are filling up, slurry will be a bigger worry than fertiliser on the majority of farms.
There are advantages of using low-emission slurry spreading (trailing shoe and dribble bars) in terms of reducing nutrient losses in spring. But, for me, the big advantage is spreading the slurry on higher grass covers and not be worried about it contaminating the grass.
As you get into March, ammonia losses will increase if you are spreading slurry with a splash plate.
Farmers applying for a derogation must spread slurry with low-emission equipment after 15 April.
On nitrogen, just because you are allowed to spread doesn’t mean you should. Decisions on when to spread should be based on soil temperature and prevailing weather. Don’t spread fertiliser on the same fields that got slurry – 2,500 gallons per acre of slurry is the same as 23 units/acre of nitrogen.
There is still a great return from early nitrogen – just get the timing right.
Tasks: There are five jobs that must be done over the next fortnight:
Chlorine: This week’s focus is on milk quality and milking equipment. A lot of farmers who started using chlorine free products last year began to experience problems towards the end of the year. We go into detail on best practice for dealing with chlorine-free products.