Around 30 farmers attended HGCA’s Fife Monitor Farm meeting in March for discussions around fertiliser spreading and crop nutrition.
The Monitor Farm meeting in Fife – hosted by Alison and Danny Milne at Auchtermuchty – covered the importance of calibrating fertiliser spread patterns; the value of blended against compound fertiliser and the role of farm account analysis in effective business management.
Stephen Young, the project’s facilitator, said: “We have a lot of data and information at our fingertips – about crop nutrients, the ability of your spreader to spread fertiliser, and in our business accounts – but what’s important is knowing what to do with it. We need to know how to pick out the useful bits and use that to improve our businesses.”
Andrew Stirrat from Pro-Test spoke to the group on fertiliser spreader testing and fertiliser types. Andrew is a farmer/contractor who started testing the spread pattern of fertiliser spreaders 14 years ago.
His main point for farmers at the meeting was that they should get their spreaders tested regularly.
He said: “Can you afford not to test your fertiliser spreader? Farmers can get their machine professionally checked over, and also put their coming season’s fertilisers through their machine to check for spread pattern.”
Farmers were also reminded that the wider they want to spread, the smaller the choice of suitable material available.
After discussions around spreader testing, Greg Dawson gave a presentation on crop nutrition, focusing on how to value fertiliser in a compound or blend against the cost of straights. He also highlighted the nutrient value of farmyard manure.
Gavin Dick, HGCA Scotland Manager said: “The meeting highlighted the physical and financial benefits from attention to detail in areas which growers often take for granted. For example, knowing where your fertiliser is landing is increasingly important – not just because of tight financial margins, but the increasing demands to preserve biodiversity and eliminate diffuse pollution.”
The meeting finished with a session on using farm accounts from Jim Booth of SAOS, employing data as a business management tool. Jim urged the group to analyse their own business to see where improvements could be made.
Gavin added: “Tight margins also make bankers more nervous, so knowing not only your own financial performance, but how you compare with others, is an important negotiating tool.”
