How can you improve your farm's nitrogen fertiliser efficiency?

Improving nitrogen fertiliser efficiency is one way your farm can become more productive, profitable and sustainable. Try our quiz to find out how you can improve your farm's nitrogen fertiliser efficiency.

Begin by answering five questions to find out how you can improve

1. Nitrogen

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Great, you are already using the most efficient form of nitrogen with ammonia losses of only 3% compared to urea which could be over 25%.
Read more about diferent nitrogen sources

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That's not the best choice, you could be losing upto 26% of your nitrogen as ammonia compared to only 3% if you used a nitrate based fertiliser.
Read more about diferent nitrogen sources

2. Sulphur

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That's not good, you could be losing upto 2t/ha of yield because your crop is unable to use nitrogen efficiently.
Read more about the importance of sulphur

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It's good that you are applying sulphur but adding this 'all at once' is not the most efficient way. It is likely some of this will leach before the plant is able to use it and then later in the season the crop may suffer sulphur deficiency.
Read more about sulphur timing

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Great, this is the most efficient way of applying sulphur.
Read more about sulphur timing

3. Phosphate and Potash

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That could be a bad decision. Phosphate and potash should be applied every year unless your soil indices are above target. You might think you are saving money on P&K in the short term but yields will suffer.
Read more about the benefits of spring P and K

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That's not the best practice. If you apply P&K in the autumn then less will still be available in the spring when crop really needs it. This means you are losing yield or wasting your money.
Read more about the benefits of spring P and K

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Great, this is the most efficient time to apply phosphate and potash so nutrients are more available to the crop when needed and other nutrients are used more efficiently.
Read more about the benefits of spring P and K

4. Micronutrients

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Crops suffering micronutrient deficiencies are unable to use other applied nutrients efficiently resulting in lost yield and wasted spending on fertiliser.
Read more about the benefits of micronutrients

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Applying individual micronutrients is ok if you can be sure you have covered all the essential micronutrients for each crop, but even if you have missed a single deficiency this can still have an effect on fertiliser use efficiency.
Read more about crop specific micronutrients

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Applying crop specific micronutrient mixtures is good practice as this ensures no single deficiency is missed that can still have an effect on fertiliser use efficiency.
Read more about crop specific micronutrients

5. Nitrogen management tools

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Nitrogen management tools help ensure crops recieve the optimum rate of nitrogen, avoiding either giving them too much which wastes money and is bad for the environment or too little which results in lost yield and profit. 
Read more about Yara's nitrogen management tools

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Great. Using Yara's nitrogen management tools will help to optimise your nitrogen rate and so increase fertiliser use efficiency.
Read more about Yara's nutrient management tools

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Agronomy advice to improve fertiliser efficiency

Check out these links to find out more about different aspects of efficient fertiliser use.

Making sense of nitrogen
Making sense of nitrogen
There are many different types of nitrogen fertilisers available and it is important to make sure you are using the most efficient type of fertiliser. This article will help you to decide which nitrogen fertiliser is best for you.
Don't forget about sulphur
Don't forget about sulphur
Sulphur was often overlooked in the past but today it is recognised as an essential nutrient and considered just as important as nitrogen, so not to be forgotten.
When is the best time to apply sulphur ?
When is the best time to apply sulphur ?
It is generally accepted that sulphur is an essential nutrient for all crops but there is still some confusion over the best time to apply sulphur.
Spring fertiliser increases yield
Eight reasons why spring fertiliser increases yield
Spring applications of some fertilisers have been shown to produce increases in cereal yields. Here are eight agronomic reasons why you should apply phosphate and potash in the spring rather than in the autumn
Deficiency prevention is better than cure
Deficiency prevention is better than cure
When it comes to micronutrients, prevention of a deficiency before crop losses occur is always better than correction after the damage has been done
Micronutrients - an important component of spring nutrition
Micronutrients - an important component of spring nutrition
With spring nitrogen and sulphur going onto cereals and oilseed rape on most farms at present dont forget about micronutrients at this time too.