Liquid N

[MattR]

I know there have been threads in the past about liquid fertiliser but can't find any recent ones. Have been wondering about moving over to it, mainly to improve spread accuracy. Have some questions though:

Firstly, I've heard/read several comments regarding sprayer compatibility. I just have a normal old mounted sprayer, yellow plastic tank and rusty steel frame and booms. People say about needing a stronger outfit as the product is more dense than water - would one way of getting around this be just to not put so much in? ie if liquid fert weighs 1.3x water, put in 0.75 the capacity of the sprayer? Or does the density have other implications, eg to do with the pump etc?

Secondly, cost. I understand that it tends to be more expensive than granular, unit for unit, does it vary a lot in relation or tend to track granular prices? How has price/availability been since everything went mad around the end of 2021?

Also, sulphur. If you just have one tank, how do the logistics work with regard to S? At the moment I tend to put an N+S product on the early wheat top-dressings, then straight N later on and then N+S and N on the spring corn when that's drilled and up. Just wondering how people work around that with liquid?

What about the tanks? They cost a bit, do they have a decent lifespan? Any makes/types to go for or to stay away from, or can you get reasonable quality s/h ones?

Thanks in advance

 

[Oscar]

You are correct in that liquid fert is generally 1.3 x water so you theory works however it obviously limits how many acres/ ha you can do on a tank full which obviously depends on your workload.

Price wise , generally more expensive than solid per N unit however there are advantages which people forget ie , you just phone for a delivery, lorry comes and unloads without any assistance or needing to be present , no bags to despose of , no sheds needed to store fertiliser so can be used for other uses?? Also cashflow can be improved ie generally with solid , you buy your whole tonnage up front and take delivery( which needs to be stored maybe weeks or months) .With liquid , you maybe fill your tank early but then tend to take additional loads in the spring as you use it however you can forward buy for a price , so if your on 30 day terms , you spread the fert cost over a much longer period.

All my liquid is N + S , so each application is that . In my case 26N 5% S

You can buy tanks , either steel or glass fibre, vertical or horizontal. However you can hire tanks from the big suppliers like Omex , Yara or get tanks via the big agri firms like Fronteir/ Agrii where you hire via them but get a rebate from the tonnage going through them ie my tank from Omex is £600 / yr ( steel ,horizontal and now 14yrs old) but I put 150 tons through it ( 50t tank) and off top of my head , I get £300 knocked off so pay £300 .
( Omex inspect each year , change sight gauge every few years and have just told me they are repainting it soon )

 

[alomy75]

Same here; omex 26/5 goes on everything. I didn’t think we paid for the tanks at all (directly) but I may be wrong. Any old sprayer will do but just wash it down each night or leave it in the rain. Older sprayers are easier to set up; no need to mess with specific gravity settings etc. Been spraying 100kg/ha N tonight; look in omex book; 301l/ha. Set your rate and go. It’s usually comparable with granular and sometimes cheaper but I couldn’t comment since putin’s war. I certainly would never go back to granular.

 

[Chae1]

I tried it last year. Didn't see any improvement in crops to granular.

I prefer putting urea/N on through fert spreader. Can put on in a frost when ground hard. Don't have to worry about scorching crops. Application intervals between pgrs and liquid fert.

I only bought 1 load liquid this year. Will use it for last application on winter crops.

Liquid fert price in autumn wasn't very competitive.

By all means give it a go. But personally I'd rather apply it through fert spreader.

 

[alomy75]

I tried it last year. Didn't see any improvement in crops to granular.

I prefer putting urea/N on through fert spreader. Can put on in a frost when ground hard. Don't have to worry about scorching crops. Application intervals between pgrs and liquid fert.

I only bought 1 load liquid this year. Will use it for last application on winter crops.

Liquid fert price in autumn wasn't very competitive.

By all means give it a go. But personally I'd rather apply it through fert spreader.

How long do you leave between liquid fert and pgr applications? I must admit it’s been very scorchy round here this year…these frosts not helping. Luckily everyone seems to be in the same boat in my local area

 

[Chae1]

How long do you leave between liquid fert and pgr applications? I must admit it’s been very scorchy round here this year…these frosts not helping. Luckily everyone seems to be in the same boat in my local area

Agronomist recommended a week. Cause the pgr removes the wax from the leaves. I haven't scorched a crop with liquid fert yet. Just what he advised me to do.

 

[Case290]

Go for it.. hire the tank nothing lost. It’s not problem free just like solid fert but it’s a different set of problems.

 

[Against_the_grain]

How long do you leave between liquid fert and pgr applications? I must admit it’s been very scorchy round here this year…these frosts not helping. Luckily everyone seems to be in the same boat in my local area

Was 4 days between growth regs and liquid n here this year. Straight n20 urea only so the least scorchy but still saw a fair bit but had to get on as we barely turned a wheel in March. Gap between spraying and fertiliser is definately the biggest headache of liquid fert for me.

 

[Chae1]

Forecast -3 for next 2 mornings. Will have to delay final applications further.

 

[alomy75]

Forecast -3 for next 2 mornings. Will have to delay final applications further.

We have a frost Monday night; do I dare put some on tomorrow? ie is it worse going into a frost or coming out of a frost?