Cereals 2011: Carbon footprint vital in fertiliser plans   

As volatile markets and weather conditions continue to impact, farmers need to have a resilient, yet productive fertiliser programme in place, was the message from Mark Tucker, Yara’s head of agronomy.

This can be done at the same time as reducing the carbon footprint of the crops they are growing, he said.

The company has developed and installed Nitrous Oxide (N20) catalytic abatement technology in its plants, which reduces N20 emissions in fertiliser production by 90 per cent. Choosing an ‘abated’ fertiliser is the first step to producing a low carbon crop, said Mr Tucker.

Following this, nutrient type, timing, rate and accuracy of application are critical. In dry springs such as this year farmers should be a looking to apply nitrogen as early as possible. Nitrogen is easily mobilised within the plant, so early uptake for use during the season, is advantageous when soil conditions later on compromise uptake, said Mr Tucker. Farmers should also consider higher rates of application. Rather than the typical 40kg/N/ha first application farmers should consider 60-80kg/ha said Mr Tucker. Rising grain prices mean this will be cost effective as 12 months ago farmers were operating at a breakeven ratio of 7:1 (nitrogen:grain), this year it is 5:1.

Nutrient uptake can become limited in dry conditions, said Mr Tucker, and many symptoms of poor growth in crops have been due to nutrient deficiency.