Nutrient Budgeting
Creating a nutrient budget will help you to make best use of nutrients across the farm; it could save you money and reduce diffuse pollution risks.
Soil testing every three to five years can help you to better plan nutrient applications. Soil testing will indicate if some fields need work to adjust soil pH, or may need more or less nutrients than are being currently applied.
Take account of the nutrient value in farm slurry and manures. Slurry sample at the time of spreading and factor analysis results in to your nutrient budget.
How you apply nutrients could affect their value. Precision application techniques such as trailing shoe or dribble bar should be used for slurry application (spreading using a splash plate is being phased out; this method can lose around 30% of the available nitrogen as ammonia gas in just the first 3 hours, leading to up to 80% of the nitrogen being lost within 12 hours of application).
Carry out a nutrient budget. PLANET Scotland is free to use; email farmingandwater@sac.co.uk to enquire about a free PLANET Scotland training course to help you create a nutrient budget for your farm.
