Fertiliser strategies for silage ground with current supply and cost issues

Tillage specialist, Mark Plunkett, joins Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast with advice on fertiliser strategies for silage ground, taking into account uncertainty around supply and the soaring cost of fertiliser. Mark explains that the recommended fertiliser application is 100 kg Nitrogen, 20 kg Phosphorus, 125 kg Potassium (35 kg of which after first cut) and 20 kg Sulphur to support a 5 tonne DM/ha yield. Furthermore, he acknowledges that the recommendation was previously 125 kg N, but given the cost and availability of fertiliser, this has reduced. The first 80 kg N will support 75% of the silage crop, the next 20 kg N will support the 20% of the crop so in order to achieve adequate first cut with winter feed reserves in mind and farmers should aim to spread 100 kg/ha. Mark encourages farmers to maximise the use of slurry on silage ground as 3,000 gallons of slurry/acre makes up the majority of P and K requirements as well as up to 30 kg N. For more information: https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2016/Teagasc-Quality-Grass-Silage-Guide.pdf For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/ The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com