Fertliser spend per year

[SilliamWhale]

So about £3 / acre/pass?
Very cheap.

Yes about that. My fuel

 

[SilliamWhale]

So the £7/ac is an average across the whole cropped area?

Yes. Sometimes a field will need more or less but as a rule of thumb thats a cost Im happy with. Even if I did it myself id probably have to cost it £2.50-3 acre and wouldn't have a spreader with such accuracy

 

[Robt]

How many sections does a sulky have?

Sorry for delay, it’s available with either 6 or 12 sections depending on machine spec

 

[Farma Parma]

Sorry for delay, it’s available with either 6 or 12 sections depending on machine spec

12sections on 24m on KV & now available with 24 sections via software update if req.
12 will do me fine i think, fab too see it working in & out of butts in corners of fields.
Maybes if i was at 36m id have more sections for sure.

 

[William]

good morning. I'm putting together a presentation for dealers and open evening talks i do. I try to us facts rather then my opinion. Its been 20 years since i was a farm manager. Can you tell me what your fertliser spend per HA is? feel free to pm if you want.
Kind regards
RobT

It's going to be very close to £247.10/ha - I believe that was the question

 

[Brisel]

Thanks again to all that have helped!
The saving on weigh cells can be up to 10%, even at 5% its a large saving!

Define saving. Most farmers will put a set dose on each ha regardless of whether that is with striping, overlaps etc. Beware of defining “saving” - you’re probably getting a better yield by running at a lower overlap so can apply at 98% of the planned dose instead of 90% but still use as many bags on the whole job.

There are good costings in Nix or downloadable versions like the HSBC or Lloyd’s Bank pocketbooks. Be wary of what you see posted in here as P and K policy varies per year per farm which can skew the figures. You ought to budget for crop off take to keep the maths simple.

 

[Farma Parma]

Define saving. Most farmers will put a set dose on each ha regardless of whether that is with striping, overlaps etc. Beware of defining “saving” - you’re probably getting a better yield by running at a lower overlap so can apply at 98% of the planned dose instead of 90% but still use as many bags on the whole job.

There are good costings in Nix or downloadable versions like the HSBC or Lloyd’s Bank pocketbooks. Be wary of what you see posted in here as P and K policy varies per year per farm which can skew the figures. You ought to budget for crop off take to keep the maths simple.

Thats the best way to sum job up
And Yes plan for Best crop take off esp for P&K & obviously Nitrogen max usage

 

[cousinjack]

In rough, back-of-fag-packet maths ..£148 /ha

 

[Robt]

Define saving. Most farmers will put a set dose on each ha regardless of whether that is with striping, overlaps etc. Beware of defining “saving” - you’re probably getting a better yield by running at a lower overlap so can apply at 98% of the planned dose instead of 90% but still use as many bags on the whole job.

There are good costings in Nix or downloadable versions like the HSBC or Lloyd’s Bank pocketbooks. Be wary of what you see posted in here as P and K policy varies per year per farm which can skew the figures. You ought to budget for crop off take to keep the maths simple.

Yes, but..... If your spreader is calibrated perfectly and applying the correct amount every minute of every day. You will save by turning on and off correct at headlands and turning off in short work. How many spread 10 acres then adjust the rate according to ensure you use the correct amount over the remaining 100 acres... 90% of operators will switch on too early when leaving the headland and switch off too early when entering the headland.....

 

[cousinjack]

@Robt , what machines do you sell ?

 

[Robt]

Sulky

 

[cousinjack]

Sulky

Do you do a mounted boom granular spreader .. 24m ?

 

[Robt]

No, I cant think of anyone that does anymore. Kuhn/Rauch used to.

 

[Jimbo]

Define saving. Most farmers will put a set dose on each ha regardless of whether that is with striping, overlaps etc. Beware of defining “saving” - you’re probably getting a better yield by running at a lower overlap so can apply at 98% of the planned dose instead of 90% but still use as many bags on the whole job.

There are good costings in Nix or downloadable versions like the HSBC or Lloyd’s Bank pocketbooks. Be wary of what you see posted in here as P and K policy varies per year per farm which can skew the figures. You ought to budget for crop off take to keep the maths simple.

I’m also thinking the same as you . I’m going auto shut off for this season and was thinking I could prob drop my rates by maybe 5% to get the saving without any detrimental effect .

 

[homefarm]

The optimum N rate every year is different so 5% more or less is difficult to quantify.
The extra yield, ease of combining, less drying from no overlaps can be measured and I am happy that this will more than pay the extra cost of a full spec spreader very quickly

 

[quattro]

Do you do a mounted boom granular spreader .. 24m ?

Think Kongskilde still do trailed one

 

[Brisel]

Think Kongskilde still do trailed one

Do Kuhn still make the Aero mounted ones? They have big 30-36m trailed AGT boom spreaders with GPS section control, variable rate etc.

 

[Brisel]

Yes, but..... If your spreader is calibrated perfectly and applying the correct amount every minute of every day. You will save by turning on and off correct at headlands and turning off in short work. How many spread 10 acres then adjust the rate according to ensure you use the correct amount over the remaining 100 acres... 90% of operators will switch on too early when leaving the headland and switch off too early when entering the headland.....

I’m with you there, but how do you monetise that for your presentation? Auto section control has revolutionised spraying, and I’ll bet most farmers are spending similar amounts per ha on fertilser as they do on sprays - check the costings books I mentioned in my earliest post in here.

I still don’t see a big easily quantifiable saving beyond optimising accuracy and output, though that is still worth investing in.

 

[Farma Parma]

Yes, but..... If your spreader is calibrated perfectly and applying the correct amount every minute of every day. You will save by turning on and off correct at headlands and turning off in short work. How many spread 10 acres then adjust the rate according to ensure you use the correct amount over the remaining 100 acres... 90% of operators will switch on too early when leaving the headland and switch off too early when entering the headland.....

This is what none of us will ever get just right no matter how many years n acres you have covered with a spreader
The technology is just better at this than any human judgement.
Ive no regrets getting into this 5years past now, but i did it for other reasons of which one was to switch over to vari-rate P&K
4years later after another lot of soil sampling done & right across the farm the zone sampled areas are all improving.
after another 4 should be better again. PH was up also, ive done Vari & Flat Rate Bulk & Prilled Lime with access to same Sampling/Mapping tools
Bulk Lime applied with a trailed Belt weigh-cell spreader mind.
Do we end up say after 8/10years switching back to flat rate P&K for instance ??? i doubt it, but i know iam trying my best to apply
the right amount of Fert on where its needed & basically not wasting any.
How you get the savings Money wise in that is the challenge, but from an Enviromental point of View its a the right thing to be doing
I havnt tried Vari Rate Nitrogen of any type but would be an easy move to do it if iam happy the info supplied justifies this.

 

[quattro]

This is what none of us will ever get just right no matter how many years n acres you have covered with a spreader
The technology is just better at this than any human judgement.
Ive no regrets getting into this 5years past now, but i did it for other reasons of which one was to switch over to vari-rate P&K
4years later after another lot of soil sampling done & right across the farm the zone sampled areas are all improving.
after another 4 should be better again. PH was up also, ive done Vari & Flat Rate Bulk & Prilled Lime with access to same Sampling/Mapping tools
Bulk Lime applied with a trailed Belt weigh-cell spreader mind.
Do we end up say after 8/10years switching back to flat rate P&K for instance ??? i doubt it, but i know iam trying my best to apply
the right amount of Fert on where its needed & basically not wasting any.
How you get the savings Money wise in that is the challenge, but from an Enviromental point of View its a the right thing to be doing
I havnt tried Vari Rate Nitrogen of any type but would be an easy move to do it if iam happy the info supplied justifies this.

I presume the highest yielding parts of the field will always use more p and k