Agricultural laboratory market leader NRM has responded to the increased demand for analysing grain at harvest to assess the performance of crop nutrition policy as growers strive to understand crop performance with the launch of a new grain check service.
With crop nutrition proving to be a more and more important aspect of growing the very best crop, grain analysis gives a different insight which is not only useful for fine tuning nutrient policies, but also great for checking grain suitability to use for home saved seed.
After harvest, grain sample are taken and submitted along with the relevant paperwork. It is then analysed for nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, iron, boron and molybdenum. The results are presented showing the grain content of each nutrient alongside the target grain content. Growers and their advisers can then compare actuals against the targets to identify shortfalls.
Rory Geldard, NRM’s Business Development Manager, commented that many growers see grain analysis as an opportunity to review the season’s crop nutrition policy, and fine tune the coming season.
NRM has been working with ADAS on their YEN project providing grain analysis since 2016. YEN data suggests nearly 3 out of 4 grain samples are deficient in at least one nutrient.
Roger Sylvester-Bradley, ADAS’s Head of Crop Performance, said: “There’s still lots to learn, but 10 years of research on phosphorus, plus growers’ experience with benchmarking their results in the YEN, show clearly how grain analysis can immediately help to guide farms towards better crop nutrient management”.
