New guidance issued by the Fertiliser Manual (RB209) encouraging farmers to use yield as a basis for calculating nitrogen applications has been met with caution by a leading fertilizer manufacturer.
The new guidance, seeks to simplify what is a complex calculation and so must be used with care warns Mark Tucker, Head of Agronomy at Yara UK.
“Yara has long supported the ‘measure to manage’ approach which enables farmers to achieve a level of accuracy with nitrogen applications that achieves a healthy harvest whilst avoiding over-fertilization to keep costs in check and protect the environment.”
“Unfortunately, to achieve this level of accuracy, the calculations can be complicated. RB209 is seeking to over simplify them.” Mr Tucker is worried that if applied without great care, farmers who follow the guidance may experience big disappointments come harvest time.”
Yara are sponsored the Crop Nutrition seminar at CropTec where the new RB209 was presented by experts from ADAS. Mark Tucker also explained Yara’s concerns with the guidance.
To assist farmers in using RB209, Yara will be offering a guidance document.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD2ZYzVzyUk]
