How can you make better use of your farm's nitrogen fertiliser

Making better use of nitrogen by improving your farm's nitrogen fertiliser efficiency means making sure your N supply is being used to its maximum potential  This is one way your farm can become more productive, profitable and sustainable. Try our quiz to find out how you can improve your farm's nitrogen fertiliser efficiency.

Begin by answering five questions to find out how you can improve

1. Nitrogen

What source of nitrogen do you use?

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Great, you are already using the most efficient form of nitrogen with ammonia losses of only 3% compared to urea which could be over 25%.

Check out our Nitrate vs Urea calculator tool to see how much better off you using nitrates and how much cheaper Urea would need to be to just break even.

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That's not the best choice, you could be losing up to 26% of your nitrogen as ammonia compared to only 3% if you used a nitrate-based fertiliser.

Check out our Nitrate vs Urea calculator tool to see how much you could be losing and how much cheaper Urea would need to be to just break even.

2. Sulphur

Do you apply sulphur?
How do you apply sulphur?

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That's not good, you could be losing upto 2t/ha of yield because your crop is unable to use nitrogen efficiently.
Read more about the importance of sulphur

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It's good that you are applying sulphur but adding this 'all at once' is not the most efficient way. It is likely some of this will leach before the plant is able to use it and then later in the season the crop may suffer sulphur deficiency.
Read more about sulphur timing

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Great, this is the most efficient way of applying sulphur.
Read more about sulphur timing

3. Micronutrients

Do you apply micronutrients?
Do you apply crop specific micronutrients?

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Crops suffering micronutrient deficiencies are unable to use other applied nutrients efficiently resulting in lost yield and wasted spending on fertiliser.
Read more about the benefits of micronutrients

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Applying individual micronutrients is ok if you can be sure you have covered all the essential micronutrients for each crop, but even if you have missed a single deficiency this can still have an effect on fertiliser use efficiency.
Read more about crop specific micronutrients

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Applying crop specific micronutrient mixtures is good practice as this ensures no single deficiency is missed that can still have an effect on fertiliser use efficiency.
Read more about crop specific micronutrients

4. Phosphate and Potash

Do you regularly apply P and K?
When do you apply P and K?

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That could be a bad decision. Phosphate and potash should be applied every year unless your soil indices are above target. You might think you are saving money on P&K in the short term but yields will suffer.
Read more about the benefits of spring P and K

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That's not the best practice. If you apply P&K in the autumn then less will still be available in the spring when crop really needs it. This means you are losing yield or wasting your money.
Read more about the benefits of spring P and K

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Great, this is the most efficient time to apply phosphate and potash so nutrients are more available to the crop when needed and other nutrients are used more efficiently.
Read more about the benefits of spring P and K

5. Nitrogen management tools

Do you use any nitrogen management tools

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Nitrogen management tools help ensure crops recieve the optimum rate of nitrogen, avoiding either giving them too much which wastes money and is bad for the environment or too little which results in lost yield and profit. 
Read more about Yara's nitrogen management tools

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Great. Using Yara's nitrogen management tools will help to optimise your nitrogen rate and so increase fertiliser use efficiency.
Read more about Yara's nutrient management tools

How did it go?

Hopefully you found this useful and picked up a few tips.

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Agronomy advice to improve fertiliser efficiency

Check out these links to find out more about different aspects of efficient fertiliser use.

Making sense of nitrogen
Making sense of nitrogen
There are many different types of nitrogen fertilisers available and it is important to make sure you are using the most efficient type of fertiliser. This article will help you to decide which nitrogen fertiliser is best for you.
Agronomy Advice - Don't forget about sulphur
Don't forget about sulphur
Sulphur was often overlooked in the past but today it is recognised as an essential nutrient and considered just as important as nitrogen, so not to be forgotten.
Spring fertiliser increases yield
Eight reasons why spring fertiliser increases yield
Spring applications of some fertilisers have been shown to produce increases in cereal yields. Here are eight agronomic reasons why you should apply phosphate and potash in the spring rather than in the autumn
Micronutrients - deficiency prevention is better than cure
Micronutrients - deficiency prevention is better than cure
When it comes to micronutrients, prevention of a deficiency before crop losses occur is always better than correction after the damage has been done.

Future-proof your farm

Find out how your farm can become more productive, profitable and sustainable by future proofing your resources, your profit and our planet.

Future-proof your resources
Future-proof your resources
EFFICIENT FARMING: Each growing cycle brings the challenge of producing healthy, profitable crops while also preserving natural resources for the future.
Future-proof your profit
Future-proof your profit
PROFITABLE FARMING: Investing in nitrate-based solutions could generate higher profits both now, and in the long term.  
Future-proof our planet
Future-proof our planet
SUSTAINABLE FARMING: Reduce your farms' impact on climate change through efficient and sustainable agriculture practices and be profitable.