Farming is a way of life and is anything but predictable. That's why your farm must be efficient and resilient enough to grow crops both sustainably and profitably now and in the future.
YaraMila complex compound fertilisers (CCF) are all about quality, meaning an even and accurate application of the nutrients that your crops need.
Ensure an even application of all nutrients by using a YaraMila complex compound fertiliser (CCF) rather than risk the segregation and uneven distribution you get when using a blend
A true compound fertiliser is one that has been manufactured in a plant that has the capability of mixing all the ingredients (nutrients) together before the final granulation or prilling process. This means all the granules or prills in that product have the same nutrient analysis, density, shape and size range.
In contrast to the homogeneity of compound fertiliser, blended fertiliser will have different coloured, shaped and sized particles. Straight fertilisers, as they’re called are mixed together to make up a particular product analysis, and then bagged.
Each identical particle contains the correct balance of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur
Made up of completely separate particles of N, P and K. Often with a large variation in bulk density and particle size.
The physical qualities of a fertiliser determine how evenly it spreads. The fertiliser flows onto the discs of the machine and then it’s propelled by the vanes in a regular pattern. Or does it!! The problem with blends is, that no two ingredients in that blend are the same. So, the spreader setting is a compromise rather than a ‘best fit’. There’s also the problem that individual ingredients can segregate out in the spreader. Whereas, for a YaraMila product, the granules or prills have the same density, shape and size range. So the spreader setting for a YaraMila product is a ‘best fit’.
What happens, is the more dense ingredients in a blend are thrown furthest and the less dense don’t reach the wider reaches of the spreading width. It’s also worth noting that a fertiliser spreader tray test for a blended product may indicate an even spread for the ‘whole’ product but for the individual nutrients, there might be a great deal of variation. There’s no ambiguity when examining the results of a tray test with a true compound fertiliser, as each granule or prill contains the full analysis for that product.
Agronomically, the more evenly nutrients are applied the better it is for the crop. If we look at spring-applied phosphate, for example, we know that phosphate is not very mobile in the soil and this immobility is more pronounced in spring when soils are cooler and wetter. So if we take a popular fertiliser grade such as 27-2-4+S, applied at 225 kg/ha. For the blended product, there are 50 phosphate landing sites per m2. Compare this to the 500 phosphate landing sites per m2 with YaraMila EXTRAGRASS (27-2.2-4.2+2.4% S). That’s 10 times more phosphate landing sites. The same comparison with potash, the difference is greater again.
Applying nutrient in fertiliser accurately at the field level is not enough. We must be placing these nutrients accurately at the plant level. If you’re serious about plant nutrition, then YaraMila is the simple choice.
YaraMila CCF fertiliser gives around 10 x the number of landing sites
Once set accurately the spreader settings will be correct for every particle
YaraMila fertiliser quality means it spreads further allowing a wider bout width
Whenever you see YaraMila you can be certain that the fertiliser has been made in one of our own factories. This means we know exactly what is going into each bag of fertiliser so we can trace each bag of YaraMila back to the ingredients used to make it.
Product tracing used to be something we needed when things went wrong – when there was a recall or a food safety investigation. But now, product tracing has gone mainstream fuelled mainly by increased demand from consumers for transparency.
YaraMila fertilisers are always made in Yara's own factories
We know exactly what is going into each bag of fertiliser
YaraMila fertiliser can be traced back from field to factory
Each fertiliser from Yara has a label which contains information on it unique to that product. Using this information it is possible to see which factory made the fertiliser and the product grade code, as well as the facility where it was put into a bag and a unique bag identification number.
With all this in place as standard, you can rest assured that any YaraMila fertiliser you buy can be traced back to the facility where it was bagged, to the factory where it was produced, and also the batch that it came from.
Decarbonising the whole food value chain
Lowering emissions for less impact on climate change
Manufacturing fertiliser from renewable energy
Sustainability can be defined in many ways but in general terms, it is all about managing today’s requirements without impacting on the ability to meet tomorrow’s needs. It can also be split into three dimensions: economic, environmental, and social. The first two of these, economic and environmental, are very clearly linked to YaraMila fertilisers. Considering the economic dimension, or sometimes referred to as ‘profit’, then this is very relevant to farm profitability. In 2020 wheat trials, YaraMila Extragrass increased yield by 173% taking a crop from 7.26 t/ha to 12.6 t/ha. This profitability improvement equates to £704/ha. The YaraMila brand helps identify that each granule supplies some P and K as well as N and S. The P and K element improved profitability by £67/ha in this trial. The extra revenue achieved through investing in YaraMila comes from the targeted application to meet the crops demand, alongside the accurate, even spread of nutrient that is achieved at the point of application.
Naturally, it is important that this ‘profitability’ doesn’t come at the expense of the environment. An environmental measure that can be used towards improved sustainability is resource efficiency. An example here is Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) which in arable crops can be targeted at 80%. When this is calculated for the YaraMila applications described above, then the NUE% was improved by 4% at the optimum nitrogen rate. Achieving the optimum nitrogen rate is also key for sustainability, thus reducing losses in the nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen management tools such as the N-Tester and N-Sensor can be used to determine application rates.
Another consideration regarding environmental sustainability are the N2O emissions during fertiliser production. Yara was instrumental in the development of the ‘abatement’ technology that removes over 90% of the N2O emissions that occur during the nitric acid production stage of manufacture, significantly reducing the carbon footprint.
The third pillar of sustainability is the societal component that a product can deliver. Food security and reduced poverty are clearly humankind gains associated with fertiliser. It has been calculated that mineral fertiliser nourishes 48% of the global population, and has saved 2.7 billion lives over the last hundred years.
As society now looks to mitigate ‘climate change’, further reductions in carbon footprints need to be made if ‘net zero’ targets are to be achieved. Yara is investing in a number of innovations, including ‘green ammonia’ that will ‘decarbonise’ fertiliser further adding to its current sustainability profile.
The following YaraMila CCF fertilisers are particularly recommended
Yara supply our branded fertilisers and crop nutrition products to the Irish market through a network of local merchants and co-ops Use our interactive map to locate your nearest suppliers.
Find out how your farm can become more productive, profitable and sustainable by future proofing your resources, your profit and our planet.
Listen to these Grow the future podcasts from the Yara Agronomy Team
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Watch some of our recent agronomy webinars in case you missed them
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