For most farmers, there are just two rounds of nitrogen (N) fertiliser left to be spread this year.

So what should you do to get the most out of fertiliser and maximise grass growth during the coming autumn?

Firstly, put a plan in place to maximise grass growth in August and September.

To get the most out of your final application of fertiliser, it needs to go out in late August or early September.

Waiting until 14 September to spread the last of your fertiliser is often a missed opportunity as grass growth significantly drops off during September.

Put a plan in place to maximise grass growth in August and September

You will get more return from fertiliser spread earlier with high growth rates and this, in turn, will help to build covers to stretch out the grazing season.

How much nitrogen will be spread in this application will come down to the stocking rate and land type. On the milking platform, you should aim to spread around 34 units.

So we know our last round of fertiliser will go out at the end of August or the first week of September. We can now plan for our second last application.

If you are following the stock with fertiliser, I would continue to do so but with the plan in mind that you are blanket-spreading the farm in late August or early September.

Final application

Paddocks receiving nitrogen this week may need close to 30 units to keep out a unit per day before the final application. Next week, it would be 23 units and so on.

If blanket-spreading the farm, it is worthwhile looking at when fertiliser is due again and planning the next application with the fact you will be spreading again at the end of August/early September in mind.

Third-cut silage

Silage ground that will let up for a third cut will need 60 units/ac of N if you are hoping to yield 6t/ac of grass.

It will also need 10 units of P and 60 units of K to replace the off-takes. Take into account the N, P and K in slurry that may have gone out on these fields and take that away from the required units.

potassium (K).

Silage ground that will let up for a third cut will need 60 units/ac of N if you are hoping to yield 6t/ac of grass

Now that we are moving into the autumn, it’s a good time to target building low-potassium index soils and replace K that may have been taken off during the year, especially in paddocks that were cut for surplus bales.

Remove surplus grass as silage bales remove a lot of K. Every 1t of grass DM/ha removes 30kg K/ ha. This is equal to five silage bales/ac.