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Fertilizer Use Survey 2001-2003: Crop Fertilizer Usage on Irish Farms

This survey provides detailed information on fertilizer usage for grassland and tillage crops on Irish farms between 2001-2003. It includes data on crop area, fertilizer type, application rates, and the effect of soil suitability. The study also explores nutrient usage for different crops and compares it to Teagasc advice.

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Fertilizer Use Survey 2001-2003: Crop Fertilizer Usage on Irish Farms

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  1. FERTILIZER USE SURVEY2001-2003 by B. Coulter, W. Murphy, N. Culleton, G. Quinlan and L.Connolly

  2. The Data Source – Teagasc National Farm Survey • Data for 2001-2003 • More than 1200 farms surveyed each year • Survey farms were randomly selected to represent the major farm systems and sizes using information from the CSO Census of Agriculture • Detailed information about fertilizer usage for each crop on the farm

  3. Crop Included Grassland Crops: • Grazing, • Silage • Hay Tillage Crops: • Winter and spring wheat • Winter, spring and malting barley • Winter and spring oats • Potatoes • Sugar beet and fodder beet • Other crops e.g. maize, turnips, kale etc.

  4. Fertilizer Information For Each Crop: • Area of the crop • Number of 50 kg bags used in each application • Type of fertilizer used (91 different compounds) • Up to 11 applications for grass; • up to 6 applications for tillage crops

  5. Main Farm Variables • Farm enterprise • Farm size • Stocking rate • Soil suitability class • Geographic region

  6. Farm Enterprise • Dairying • Drystock farming • Sheep farming • Tillage

  7. Soil Use Class • Farms classified according to their location on General Soil Map (Gardiner and Radford, 1982) • Four groups depending on the range of soil use capability • Soil use class 1 can grow the widest range of crops without limitation • Soil use class 4 contains farms with limited to extremely limited use range.

  8. Representation * 1210 farms in the survey represent 114,000 Irish farms

  9. Validation

  10. Regional N, P and K application rates for grazing (kg/ha) * S.E. 5.8 † S.E. 26.1

  11. N and P application rates for grazing (kg/ha)

  12. Duration of Grazing Season

  13. Effect of soil use class on N, P, K for grazing

  14. Dairy fertilizer application for grazing at different stocking rates (kg/ha)

  15. Surveyed N usage and Teagasc N advice for grazed grassland (kg/ha)

  16. P and K usage and Teagasc P & K advice for grazing on dairy farms

  17. Silage • Nutrient usage of N, P and K was 120, 13 and 41 kg/ha respectively. • N use was 13% below Teagasc advice for crops with full use of slurry • P and K use were between advised rates for silage using (a) no-slurry and (b) slurry • Usage declined by 11, 15 and 20% from usage in 2000.

  18. N and K application rates for silage (kg/ha)

  19. Fertilizer Compounds for Grazing * Typical composition 23:2.5:5

  20. Fertilizer Compounds for Silage * Typical composition 23:2.5:5

  21. High N Compounds: Comparison with 2000 • For grazing, use of high N compounds for N, P and K increased by 12-14% since 2000 • For silage, the increase was 16-18%. • A similar trend was found between 1995 and 2000. • This “little and often” approach is environmentally friendly for P

  22. Grassland N Usage Since 1995

  23. Grassland P & K Usage Since 1995

  24. Winter Barley • Grown only in SE, ME and border regions (32 farms) • Mean N usage was 167 kg/ha • Calculated Teagasc advice is ~ 156 kg/ha • Mean P and K usage were 30 and 71 kg/ha • P & K match Teagasc advice • N usage for increased by 8% since 2000 compared to a 5% drop in national N sales

  25. Spring Barley • Grown in all regions (184 farms) • Mean N usage was 123 kg/ha • Calculated Teagasc advice is ~ 118 kg/ha • Mean P and K usage were 26 and 55 kg/ha • P & K match Teagasc advice • N & K usage increased by 7-8% since 2000 compared to a 5-9% drop in national N sales

  26. Winter Wheat • Grown only in 4 regions (48 farms) • Mean N usage was 203 kg/ha • Calculated Teagasc advice is ~ 172 kg/ha • Mean P and K usage were 23 and 55 kg/ha • P matches Teagasc advice but K is lower • N, P & K usage decreased by 2%, 17% and 31% since 2000

  27. Spring Wheat • Grown only in 6 regions (52 farms) • Mean N usage was 152 kg/ha • Calculated Teagasc advice is 112-148 kg/ha depending on expected yield • Mean P and K usage were 24 and 53 kg/ha • P & K use consistent with Teagasc advice • N usage decreased by 5% since 2000 but P and K increased by 33 and 26%

  28. Compounds for Cereals • N mainly supplied by CAN (some 10:10:20) • P & K mainly supplied by 18:6:12 and 10:10:20 for winter and spring barley, winter and spring wheat

  29. Sugar Beet • Grown only in 4 regions (67 farms) • Mean N usage was 159 kg/ha • Teagasc advice is 100-200 kg/ha depending on summer rainfall and years in ley prior to tillage • Mean P and K usage were 24 and 157 kg/ha • Teagasc P & K advice is 39 and 170 kg/ha • N, P and K usage decreased by 1%, 14% and 5% since 2000

  30. Mean Fertilizer Nutrient Use for Cereal Crops from 1995-2003

  31. Mean Fertilizer Nutrient Use for Root Crops from 1995-2003

  32. Compounds for Roots • Compound used depending on crop • S/A used only on potatoes • No straight P or K used • Very wide variety of compounds used

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