Hungry and Naked - That's Where We'd Be Without Agriculture!
Two major challenges associated with slurry application to winter crops are: 1. Variability of nutrients present in the slurry. %N, %P, %K can vary dramatically between the loads.
2. Application of slurry in the fall results in extremely low nutrient use efficiency. Typical nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency is approximately 33%, meaning that almost 70% of all N applied to agricultural fields is not being utilized by the crops but being lost from the soil through run off, leaching, and volatilization. The "lost" nutrients end up in the lakes, rivers and oceans causing eutrophication, as well as in the atmosphere contributing to global warming.
What solutions can be offered to solve these problems? First of all, testing slurry for nutrient content prior to spreading is vital for estimating whether the applied amount of slurry provides adequate mineral nutrition to the developing crop. Also, while nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency is approximately 33% worldwide, nutrient use efficiency is significantly lower when slurry is used as a source compared to commercial fertilizers. A field study conducted in 2006 by research scientists fro Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences showed that 60% nitrogen use efficiency was achieved using ammonium nitrate compared to only 35% using pig slurry. While 38% phosphorus use efficiency was observed with calcium hydroxyl phosphate, only 6 to 9% phosphorus use efficiency was achieved with pig slurry.
Knowing the exact nutrient content of slurry and applying slurry at the appropriate rate and at the right time, can help to utilize slurry more efficiently even for winter crops.
How to determine the appropriate nutrient rate??? and what is the right time for fertilizer application???
Precision Ag Solutions encourage growers to attend Intelligent Farming Workshops! These one-day workshops are packed with valuable information that help farmers to make their farming operations more efficient. Our Precision Agriculture specialists will explain how detailed nutrient management plans can be created on field-by-field basis. The main aim of the workshops is to encourage discussion about challenges that growers are facing and to offer practical and inexpensive solutions to these challenges. Irish farming community is ready for Precision Agriculture! Farmers all over the world are using Precision Agriculture technologies to their advantage and our goal at Precision Ag Solutions is to deliver these technologies to Irish producers. We believe that --- Hungry and Naked - That's Where We'd Be Without Agriculture! ---This is why we are dedicated to serving Irish farmers and to help them achieve success and prosperity.
To find out more about our Intelligent Farming Program and Intelligent Farming Workshops, please contact us by e-mail: soilmanager@hotmail.com; or by phone: 087-415-1843, 085-240-7668.
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