FERTILIZER USE SURVEY 20012003

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FERTILIZER USE SURVEY2001-2003

• by
• B. Coulter, W. Murphy, N. Culleton, G.
  Quinlan and L.Connolly

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The Data Source Teagasc National Farm Survey

• Data for 2001-2003
• More than 1200 farms surveyed each year
• Survey farms were randomly selected to represent
  the major farm systems and sizes using
  information from the CSO Census of Agriculture
• Detailed information about fertilizer usage for
  each crop on the farm

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Crop Included

• Grassland Crops
• Grazing,
• Silage
• Hay
• Tillage Crops
• Winter and spring wheat
• Winter, spring and malting barley
• Winter and spring oats
• Potatoes
• Sugar beet and fodder beet
• Other crops e.g. maize, turnips, kale etc.

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Fertilizer Information

• For Each Crop
• Area of the crop
• Number of 50 kg bags used in each application
• Type of fertilizer used (91 different compounds)
• Up to 11 applications for grass
• up to 6 applications for tillage crops

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Main Farm Variables

• Farm enterprise
• Farm size
• Stocking rate
• Soil suitability class
• Geographic region

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Farm Enterprise

• Dairying
• Drystock farming
• Sheep farming
• Tillage

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Soil Use Class

• Farms classified according to their location on
  General Soil Map (Gardiner and Radford, 1982)
• Four groups depending on the range of soil use
  capability
• Soil use class 1 can grow the widest range of
  crops without limitation
• Soil use class 4 contains farms with limited to
  extremely limited use range.

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Representation
1210 farms in the survey represent 114,000
Irish farms
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Validation
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Regional N, P and K application rates for grazing
(kg/ha)
S.E. 5.8 S.E. 26.1
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N and P application rates for grazing (kg/ha)
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Duration of Grazing Season
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Effect of soil use class on N, P, K for grazing
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Dairy fertilizer application for grazing at
different stocking rates (kg/ha)
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Surveyed N usage and Teagasc N advice for grazed
grassland (kg/ha)
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P and K usage and Teagasc P K advice for
grazing on dairy farms
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Silage

• Nutrient usage of N, P and K was 120, 13 and 41
  kg/ha respectively.
• N use was 13 below Teagasc advice for crops with
  full use of slurry
• P and K use were between advised rates for silage
  using (a) no-slurry and (b) slurry
• Usage declined by 11, 15 and 20 from usage in
  2000.

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N and K application rates for silage (kg/ha)
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Fertilizer Compounds for Grazing
Typical composition 232.55
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Fertilizer Compounds for Silage
Typical composition 232.55
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High N Compounds Comparison with 2000

• For grazing, use of high N compounds for N, P and
  K increased by 12-14 since 2000
• For silage, the increase was 16-18.
• A similar trend was found between 1995 and 2000.
• This little and often approach is
  environmentally friendly for P

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Grassland N Usage Since 1995
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Grassland P K Usage Since 1995
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Winter Barley

• Grown only in SE, ME and border regions (32
  farms)
• Mean N usage was 167 kg/ha
• Calculated Teagasc advice is 156 kg/ha
• Mean P and K usage were 30 and 71 kg/ha
• P K match Teagasc advice
• N usage for increased by 8 since 2000 compared
  to a 5 drop in national N sales

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Spring Barley

• Grown in all regions (184 farms)
• Mean N usage was 123 kg/ha
• Calculated Teagasc advice is 118 kg/ha
• Mean P and K usage were 26 and 55 kg/ha
• P K match Teagasc advice
• N K usage increased by 7-8 since 2000 compared
  to a 5-9 drop in national N sales

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Winter Wheat

• Grown only in 4 regions (48 farms)
• Mean N usage was 203 kg/ha
• Calculated Teagasc advice is 172 kg/ha
• Mean P and K usage were 23 and 55 kg/ha
• P matches Teagasc advice but K is lower
• N, P K usage decreased by 2, 17 and 31 since
  2000

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Spring Wheat

• Grown only in 6 regions (52 farms)
• Mean N usage was 152 kg/ha
• Calculated Teagasc advice is 112-148 kg/ha
  depending on expected yield
• Mean P and K usage were 24 and 53 kg/ha
• P K use consistent with Teagasc advice
• N usage decreased by 5 since 2000 but P and K
  increased by 33 and 26

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Compounds for Cereals

• N mainly supplied by CAN (some 101020)
• P K mainly supplied by 18612 and 101020 for
  winter and spring barley, winter and spring wheat

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Sugar Beet

• Grown only in 4 regions (67 farms)
• Mean N usage was 159 kg/ha
• Teagasc advice is 100-200 kg/ha depending on
  summer rainfall and years in ley prior to tillage
• Mean P and K usage were 24 and 157 kg/ha
• Teagasc P K advice is 39 and 170 kg/ha
• N, P and K usage decreased by 1, 14 and 5
  since 2000

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Mean Fertilizer Nutrient Use for Cereal Crops
from 1995-2003
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Mean Fertilizer Nutrient Use for Root Crops from
1995-2003
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Compounds for Roots

• Compound used depending on crop
• S/A used only on potatoes
• No straight P or K used
• Very wide variety of compounds used