Dairy farms across the UK are needed to participate in a new project looking at reducing phosphorus losses.
When manure rich in phosphorus (P) is applied to land above the crops’ requirements, the excess P runs off into waterbodies.
The contributes to water pollution, with degradation of quality and reduction in aquatic biodiversity.
Reducing P losses from dairy farms has both environmental and cost benefit for dairy farms.
The University of Reading, in collaboration with Harper Adams University, is running the new project looking at reducing phosphorus losses.
Participating farms are being asked to complete a simple form to collect data on the amount of annual phosphorus imported into and exported out of their farm.
In cases where the phosphorus content of feeds, manure and soil is unknown, a one-hour farm visit to collect samples for analysis can be arranged.
Dairy farms involved in the project will receive a report on their farm's phosphorus performance to help identify areas to improve phosphorus efficiency on-farm.
There will also be anonymised data from all the participating farms for benchmarking performance.
Recruitment for the project closes in March 2020 or earlier if the fifty spaces are filled.
This project is part of a three-year PhD studentship funded by AHDB Dairy.
For more details or to get involved, contact the PhD student Brad Harrison (b.harrison@pgr.reading.ac.uk).
