 Soaring fertiliser prices and poor returns from sheep have increased pressure on fertiliser budgets to the point where the status quo is no longer sustainable, especially on less-productive hill country. This will force many to re-think what and how fertiliser inputs are applied in order to get the best return possible.
Important to this having a good understanding of your soil and nutrient requirements. To get value from your fertiliser spend you need to identify the specific nutrient requirements of individual parts of the farm and adjust fertiliser applications accordingly. Ideally you should test the same areas annually. One-off soil tests can be misrepresentative, whereas a history of regular testing gives a much better picture over time. When looking at soil test results we need to consider all soil nutrient levels and soil pH. While there is an ongoing requirement for major inputs, particularly phosphorous & sulphur, ultimately you will get better ulitisation of these applications if everything else in check. A common observation in hill country is that the P-response isn’t what it once was, and this is generally attributable to acidification. Low soil pH will restrict nutrient uptake so it is important to address this to maximise ulitisation of other inputs. In more extreme cases high aluminum concentrations can “lock-up” phosphorous and restrict root development, limiting drought tolerance and the ability to extract nutrients from the soil. If you have low-pH soils consider asking for an aluminum test in your soil analysis. Clover is especially prone to the effects f high aluminum toxicity. The importance of good clover cover should not be overlooked — in the face of rising fertiliser costs, ultilising the nitrogen-fixing ability of legumes makes good economic sense. Soil acidity can be addressed with lime but high cost of application has prevented regular liming on much of our hill country in recent years. Optimise is ultra-fine lime in a pelletised form that has been shown to be effective at lower application rates than conventional ag-lime. This makes Optimise a practical and cost-effective means of applying lime to hill country. Optimise can also be custom blended to suit your specific needs. This means you can address liming and other nutrient requirements in a simple combined application. All ingredients are fine-ground prior to pelletisation to maximise availability. Elemental sulphur is a good example of a product incorporated in Optimise for a cost effective means of applying both S and lime. Some common blends and indicative pricing is listed below:
Note: Prices are ex-factory and exclude GST; they are current at publication date but are subject to change. Comments are closed.
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