Following the recent heavy rainfall, some spring sown crops will have quickly gone from a state of moisture stress to waterlogging, not ideal in the early stages of production! Some of the later sown spring crops, such as maize have been slow to get going due to the dry soil conditions. The rainfall will help […]

Unlike nitrogen and sulphur, potash moves very slowly in the soil. Failure to replenish the potash removed by grass cut for silage can lead to short-term yield penalties. The advice to keep soil potassium levels at Index 2- will maintain a fertile and productive soil throughout the horizon where roots can access nutrients. Fresh potash, […]

It can be a bit of a gamble to put together an article which focusses heavily on current weather conditions, particularly when thinking back to April 2012, when farms with access to irrigation equipment were considering applications to cereals. We all know what happened next… However, it cannot be ignored that large parts of the […]

Potash is used to regulate the movement and storage of solutions throughout plants which can be compared to the blood system in animals or humans. This is a very wide ranging and vital role, affecting nutrient uptake, photosynthesis, rate of growth and feed value of forage. These functions require larger amounts of potash in total […]

The implications of plant potash levels on drought stress are often discussed during the spring due to the role potash plays in enabling efficient water usage in plants and improving crop tolerance to drought. Drought conditions are not only related to potassium levels in the plant but may also have an impact on nutrient levels […]

Winter is a good time for many to reflect back on last year’s yields and nutritional programs to identify areas of change that may need correcting going forward. Where applications of phosphate and potash were made based on estimated yields and assumptions on straw management, actual offtakes could be very different, which unless corrected could […]

To misquote a saying slightly “if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it”, this is very important for grassland where production is so often not measured directly because grass is grown to feed livestock, rather than sell directly as a product. As a result of not measuring, the benefits of certain grassland management decisions […]

At their 2016 agronomic conference the International Fertiliser Society (IFS) hosted a comprehensive and detailed review of potassium management in soils and crops by Johnny Johnston, of Rothamsted Research. Containing a host of data from long term trials run by Rothamsted, this is an excellent reference guide for advisers. You can read the abstract of […]

With the arrival of the new Nutrient Management Guide (RB209) from AHDB, the Wholecrop Cereal recommendations for Phosphate and Potash have been included. In the past, in the absence of good information on Wholecrop generally, advisers have often used “grass for silage” recommendations instead, reflecting the greener nature of under-ripe cereals cut for Wholecrop silage. […]

With the huge increase in area producing forage maize and rye for anaerobic digesters, it seems timely to remember a couple of the nutrient issues that arise which can be different from normal growing practice. Firstly, harvesting often occurs earlier with the crop being greener than for normal animal feed purposes. The implication being that […]

With the arrival of the new AHDB Nutrient Management Guide (RB209) and its revised values for P & K offtakes, and the inclusion of more crops, we have updated our P & K Calculator accordingly. The P & K Calculator is a free tool for farmers and crop nutrition advisors in England, Wales and N […]