Arable crops

There is a lot more focus today to reduce environmental impact as much as possible. With more of a spotlight being shone on agriculture for emissions such as GHGs (Greenhouse gasses), being able to calculate your carbon footprint as a farmer is increasingly relevant.

At Yara we developed abatement technology which greatly reduces emissions (by up to 90%) of N2O (a GHG) from nitric acid production. Nitric acid is required in the process of manufacturing nitrate fertilisers, therefore greatly reducing the emissions from this process means that Yara’s nitrate-containing fertiliser’s carbon footprint is also reduced by 40%.

Once the fertiliser gets on to farm however it is up to the user ensure that the carbon footprint continues to reduce through best farming practice. The carbon footprint of fertiliser can be reduced at both production and application through technology and best practice.

To get the most of the fertiliser at farm level, you want to get the best Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) from the fertiliser that you can. This comes from product selection, timing, rate, weather conditions, crop demand, soil properties and more to ensure that the fertiliser you are applying gets to the desired location and is taken up by the crop. By ensuring all these factors are taken into account, another 10-30% carbon savings can be made by minimising losses through leaching or volatilisation.

Therefore, by product selection and best practice growers can reduce their carbon footprint by half when using Yara’s ammonium nitrate fertilisers such as YaraBela Axan or Sulphan.