| Grassland
Mid-season grassland fertilizer management
With current grass growth rates hitting the high 80’s
(DM/kg/ha per day), it’s a challenge to maintain grass
quality at this time. Grass is hell bent on setting seed so
managing the grass wedge and maintaining low residuals
is the key to maintaining milk yield and composition.
id-season
grassland fertilizer
management
The recent
‘Grassland &
Muck’ event at
Stoneleigh highlighted how the
recent dry conditions in April and
May impacted on grass growth
rates with many of the early
season urea users suffering in the
drier areas. This is no surprise as
urea nitrogen is not immediately
available for grass uptake and
during dry conditions the
conversion process is much
slower. Some farmers were aware
of this and switched to an
ammonium nitrate (AN) based
fertilizer early to kick-start growth
as it performs better in dry
conditions. AN contains nitrate
which is immediately available to
the plant.
We also took a lot of enquiries
about sulphur application on
grassland which was encouraging
as we know how important sulphur
is for productive grassland
farming. My advice on the day was
choose a nitrogen plus sulphur
product, rather than straight
M
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk
nitrogen. The trial data is
overwhelming in favour of sulphur
applications, especially for early
season growth. Don’t depend on
organic sources of sulphur to
supply your crops requirement.
My advice on the day was
choose a nitrogen plus sulphur
product
Clover is coming into its own at
this time of year but its nutrient
requirements are not often
considered. Clover is susceptible
to sulphur and potassium
deficiency so to get the best
productivity from clover you need
to supply these nutrients in a
mineral fertilizer. NPKS products
applied now will replenish the
nutrients removed in earlier
months and maintain shorter
grazing intervals in mid-season.
Check the daily grass growth
rates in your area with our grass
growth map at
http://www.yara.co.uk/crop-
nutrition/Tools-and-Services/grass-
growth-map/default.aspx
July 2017 | Farming Monthly | 27