Fertiliser records are essential on every farm. They require care and attention to ensure they meet the requirements of the nitrates regulations.

Now is the time to compile records for 2017 and plan for the year ahead.

This relatively quiet time of year on tillage farms provides a perfect opportunity to get your fertiliser records up to date.

Unlike chemical records, which are generally straightforward, fertiliser records are more complex, as they must combine the amount of N and P you purchase and use throughout the year with the amount permitted on each crop/field.

This is calculated based on a combination of previous cropping history, soil test results, yield levels and the crop type.

You must keep records for each calendar year, which means from 1 January to 31 December. These records need to be ready for inspection by 31 March of the following year.

You may incur penalties of 1%, 3% or 5% on your basic payment if the required documents are not submitted on time, produced after an inspection or are incorrect.

The specific records required to be maintained under nitrates regulations differ depending on farming enterprise, see Table 1.

For example, cereal farmers who do not import organic manures are not required to submit nitrates records, but they will be asked to produce details of chemical fertilisers and soil test results if they get a cross compliance inspection.

Those who are importing/exporting organic manure will be required to submit records to the Department by year-end and will be required to produce these records, as well as the aforementioned, if they get an inspection.

Farmers with stock require all of these, plus records of meal fed to stock, details on any temporary movement of livestock for grazing purposes, specifications on storage facilities for livestock manures and a number of others.

N and P allowances

While the records required depend solely on the nature of the enterprise, one record that every farmer should have on hand is their fertiliser allowances for N and P each year.

While this document may not necessarily be demanded if you receive an inspection, having it to hand shows the inspector that a clear plan has been put in place for that year.

Therefore, an estimation of fertiliser allowances should be completed at the start of each calendar year. Doing this now for 2018 will allow you to plan your farm’s allowances and to match those with your purchases and intakes.

From this point, I will run through three separate examples of fertiliser records. These encompass fertiliser allowances estimate, details of chemical fertilisers and records of movements of organic fertilisers.

Key dates

Completed record of movement of organic fertiliser form (Record 3) must be submitted to Nitrates Section, DAFM, Johnstown Castle Estate, on or before 31 December each year

A record of the details of livestock temporarily moved to, or received from, another holding for grazing including cattle/sheep types (Record 4) must be submitted to Nitrates Section on or before 31 December each year.

A record of any rental/grazing agreements. This record should include the rental period, LPIS numbers of land grazed plus name and herd number of transferor/transferee (Record 5). This record must be submitted to Nitrates Section on or before 31 December each year.

Fertiliser allowances

Fertiliser estimations should endeavour to calculate the fertiliser requirements based on each individual crop.

For example, Table 3 outlines an example of the estimated chemical fertiliser required for a 4ha field of spring barley on Index 2 soil. The record only requires N and P allowances.

The crop requires 100kg/ha of nitrogen (80 units/ac). This figure is based on the difference between total crop N requirement and the amount of N supplied by the soil (see Table 2), which in this case is regarded as being Index 2.

Where proof of higher yields is available (based on the highest of the three most recent harvests), an additional 20kg N/ha may be applied for each additional tonne above 6.5t/ha.

P and K requirements are based on applying enough fertiliser to replace the anticipated crop off-take at average yield levels, plus additional nutrient to help build soil fertility where test results are below Index 3.

Table 2 shows that on Index 2 soils, 35kg P/ha plus 100kg K/ha are required to feed the crop and build fertility. This assumes an allowance of 3.8kg and 11.4kg/ha of P and K removed with straw.

As with N, additional P can be applied where historic yields are greater than the basic 6.5t/ha on which the recommendations are based.

Where farm crop yield can be proven to be above this, an additional 3.8kg P/ha may be applied on soils at phosphorus indices 1, 2, or 3 for each additional tonne above 6.5t/ha.

When you are estimating your fertiliser requirements for the year or ensuring records are up to date for the previous year, it is important to that you do not exceed the limits of your farm allowances as determined by nitrates regulations (SI no 31 of 2014).

In addition to this, you need ensure that you account for any organic manures applied to both autumn-sown and spring-sown crops when compiling these records.

Details for chemical fertilisers

The quantities and types of chemical fertilisers moved on to or off your farm, including opening stock, records of purchase and closing stock, may be required during or after an inspection. It is advised to keep all receipts and invoices to assist in this.

The Department provides a template online as an example of how this record could be kept (see Table 4). It details the total amount of chemical N and P coming on to and leaving your farm, ie being sold to another farmer or returned to merchant, and assumes the difference is what is actually used. It also accounts for carryover stock from the previous year. The total kgs of N and P are then calculated and tallied at the end.

Record of movement of organic fertilisers

Any movement of organic fertiliser on or off your farm must be recorded on the Department’s Record 3 template (see Table 5) and submitted to the Department by year end. So any details of movements which occur in 2017 must be submitted by 31/12/17.

This is where accurate record keeping becomes essential. If you are over the 170kg of N limit as defined by the nitrates regulations and are not in derogation then you must export a quantity of organic N. Alternatively, you can import organic fertiliser as long as you remain under the 170kg limit.

A copy of this Record 3 document must be maintained by both the exporter and importer, both of whom are required to sign for it.

The nutrient value of the organic fertiliser can be found on the 2014 Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters Regulations document in Table 6 below.

Table 5 is an example record of the movement of pig slurry from one farm to another. In this case, the importer would deduct the total amount N and P of the imported pig slurry from their total chemical fertiliser allowance.

2018 and beyond

Ireland’s third nitrates action programme (NAP) expires on 31 December 2017 and the fourth NAP (NAP4) will come into force in January 2018. NAP4 will run until the end of 2021 and has introduced a number of new measures which will mainly affect farmers in derogation. However, any records pertaining to fertiliser usage/requirements in 2017 will be governed by the regulations from NAP3.

Key conversions

  • Units/ac x 1.25 = kg/ha
  • Kg/ha x 0.8 = Units/ac
  • 1 unit/ac = 1.25kg/ha
  • 1 bag of urea/ac = 46 units N/ac = 57.5kg N/ha
  • 1 bag of CAN/ac= 27 units N/ac = 33.75kg N/ha
  • Read more

    Tillage management: grain stores, record keeping and soil testing

    Cattle and pig slurry - valuable sources of N, P and K