Farming without bagged Fertiliser

100 cows on 100 acres Cutting frequently to bales or zero grazing.
Regular reseed rotation and import quite a bit of nutrients in feed.
Not used any p or k for years just urea and sulphur for first 2/3 of the season going little and often.
Gone to all umbilical/dribble bar and just put in a second lagoon for winter storage.
Is it realistic to try without any bagged N?
Wondering about slurry bugs instead as a cheap alternative.
Any thoughts??
 

Martyn

Member
Location
South west
100 cows on 100 acres Cutting frequently to bales or zero grazing.
Regular reseed rotation and import quite a bit of nutrients in feed.
Not used any p or k for years just urea and sulphur for first 2/3 of the season going little and often.
Gone to all umbilical/dribble bar and just put in a second lagoon for winter storage.
Is it realistic to try without any bagged N?
Wondering about slurry bugs instead as a cheap alternative.
Any thoughts??
Haveing gone organic and changed the farm from being nitrogen dependant Pp to clover based three year rotation including a fourth year with a cereal break crop I can honestly say we have never grown so much fodder. I would look carefully at what wormers you use on stock as they carry through the dung/slurry and have big impact on soil health.
You can grow massive volumes of grub if FYM is applied at the right time and weather is on your side. And if the weather isn't just remember the grass dosnt grow any faster with a pile of N behind it in a draught or if it's freezing anyway, and you will forget about the fearful prices being said on here😃
 

RJ1

Member
Location
Wales
Foliar feeding now a credible option. The farm is part of a Farming Connect trial with 3 others, results are about to be published, suffice to say a huge saving in fert is possible.
Listened to the podcast only a couple of weeks ago, looking forward to the data you're looking for this year.
Who stocks it?
 
100 cows on 100 acres Cutting frequently to bales or zero grazing.
Regular reseed rotation and import quite a bit of nutrients in feed.
Not used any p or k for years just urea and sulphur for first 2/3 of the season going little and often.
Gone to all umbilical/dribble bar and just put in a second lagoon for winter storage.
Is it realistic to try without any bagged N?
Wondering about slurry bugs instead as a cheap alternative.
Any thoughts??


Have you ever grown any red clover? I've pre mown and grazed in the past but I don't know if you'd kill it if you mowed too frequently for zero grazing.

It would also need a couple of years break crops to avoid sclerotinia breakdown. Maize or fodder beet because of their low N requirements but I doubt either of those are very attractive options on heavier north Devon ground.
 
Have you ever grown any red clover? I've pre mown and grazed in the past but I don't know if you'd kill it if you mowed too frequently for zero grazing.

It would also need a couple of years break crops to avoid sclerotinia breakdown. Maize or fodder beet because of their low N requirements but I doubt either of those are very attractive options on heavier north Devon ground

Tried it a good few times but it just doesn’t take to being cut so frequently.

I’ve not got the acres or inclination to complicate things with break crops etc which may well be lazy but I’ve got enough to keep me occupied.

What we are doing is working well but with the Arla carbon footprint and the increase in costs in bagged N (although on the 20 tons I use it’s not hugely significant) I was just wondering if anyone is farming intensively and still getting the DM outputs without it.
 

vantage

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembs
Maybe but I can't see something this obvious could be hidden for long. Maybe the n req for grass is a lot less?
No, it’s more! I think it hasn’t been an issue previously as N has been comparatively cheap and does show a very good return. Now with the price increase and more regulation of N in water, the trial results will put the cat among the pigeons!
 

Durry cows

Member
Location
Derbyshire
Haveing gone organic and changed the farm from being nitrogen dependant Pp to clover based three year rotation including a fourth year with a cereal break crop I can honestly say we have never grown so much fodder. I would look carefully at what wormers you use on stock as they carry through the dung/slurry and have big impact on soil health.
You can grow massive volumes of grub if FYM is applied at the right time and weather is on your side. And if the weather isn't just remember the grass dosnt grow any faster with a pile of N behind it in a draught or if it's freezing anyway, and you will forget about the fearful prices being said on here😃
Picking up on you’re wormers comment how do you get round this? Currently use ivomec super at dry off cheers
 

vantage

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembs
I need to read up more but I can't really understand how it's been achieved
Basically foliar feeding is more effective as the fertiliser is taken directly into the plant. Conventional fertiliser has to dissolve and be taken up by the roots, efficiency of use then is 50%+ at best.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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