Fertiliser Practice Survey

The British Survey of Fertiliser Practice, which surveys around 1,500 farms, has been published. Weather had a major impact on fertiliser use in 2013, with more spring crops, which often require less fertiliser and the cold spring delayed some applications. The Nitrogen rate on tillage crops fell significantly to 136kg/ha, for the last 25 years the rate has been relatively consistent in the range of 145-150kg/ha. Phosphate and potash application rates, which have been stable since around 2010, across both tillage and grassland were 18 and 25kg/ha respectively.  The survey also found that 68% of farms used organic manure on a least one of their fields.