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Farmers could get free fertiliser advice straight to their phones as they work in fields, under the next CAP.
The European Commission has proposed that all farms should prepare a nutrient management plan as part of the next CAP.
To do this, each country would have to roll out a system called the Farm Sustainability Tool (FaST) for nutrients.
The mobile phone tool will include a map of land parcels, from which farmers can select their own.
Each field will have information attached on soil type, moisture content, soil pH and its levels of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.
It will also include the field’s proximity to protected areas, such as Natura 2000, nitrate vulnerable zones and areas of natural constraint.
Farmers will enter the number of livestock or crops on their farm.
FaST will estimate a crop’s fertiliser requirements for a full season based on expected yield and the manure animals will generate. Fields will be prioritised for manure and farmers will be warned about legal limits of nutrient use.
The European Commission has said the app, which will be free to download, will not be used to ensure farmer compliance, but instead help them to improve both the economic and environmental performance of their farms.
It sees environmental benefits as being lower leakage of nutrients into groundwater and lower greenhouse gases.
For farmers, it will prevent excessive fertilisation of some fields and increase crop yields where there is under-fertilisation.
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