Preventing liquid fert scorch.
- Thread starter samsung
- Start date
I wouldn't go back to solid. I have lots of beetle banks & small subdivided fields, so have 82km of headlands. Yep, I'm a sad person who measured them all using Gatekeeper and Google Earth! I did it when working out the cost/benefit of going from a part liquid part solid 30m system to a 36m all liquid one.
At 30m and solid fertiliser I still pinged a few prills into the hedge bottoms yet under fertilised the outside 6m. That's despite tray testing the headland vanes. A yield loss of 1-2 t/ha on my yield maps = over £5k/year. With liquid that yield drop is negligible now, and the £5k is a bonus. I pay the same for liquid as I do quality solid & now am up to 36m. I've also saved on having to clear grain stores early for space for the bags and another person who would have been tied up full time on the forklift. No plastic recycling costs though that is cancelled out by the cost of the pads for GRP tanks & a small tank rental fee. Instead of having to fill grain trailers with 600 kg bags of fertiliser and run them out to the far side of the farm I just fill a bowser and drop it off for the sprayer driver. Yields haven't dropped with scorch except for the gains on headlands mentioned above. You can do liquid on windy days when you'd have striping with prills. You can even do it in the rain. Liquid is available to the crop more quickly too - no time seeing undissolved prills on the soil surface.
The only pain has been waiting for tanker deliveries this year thanks to Yara's penny pinching on haulage rates so I will put up a few more tanks here for extra buffer storage. I still have bagged TSP, MOP and kieserite to keep the spinner in work. It also stretches sprayer capacity and you need to paint up any bare metal or the fertiliser soon eats the sprayer. I have a 6000 litre Chafer which uses stainless steel parts as standard so it's no big deal.
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- Location
- Lincolnshire
Thats the reason I went liquid,it cannot be beaten for accuracy, I didn't have problems with deliveries at all,very prompt service.
I've tried both now,they've both got baggage unfortunately.
It is very corrosive stuff in liquid form tho.
Just a point,I'll be going back to blue bags next season.
Forgot about lumpy fertilizer
.Thats the reason I went liquid,it cannot be beaten for accuracy, I didn't have problems with deliveries at all,very prompt service.
I've tried both now,they've both got baggage unfortunately.
It is very corrosive stuff in liquid form tho.
Just a point,I'll be going back to blue bags next season.
Forgot about lumpy fertilizer
That's quite an about turn. Why?
- Location
- northampton
I put a 1000lt of molasses in with every lorry load that goes in the tank could see a line in the field last year where I went with out it and scorched and the next load I put it in and no scorch
Jon
Member
- Location
- South Norfolk
Thank you for the feed back folks, again, my apologies for the intrusion.
Lexion1000
Member
My feeling is that for the first couple of doses scorch is never much of an issue. It’s only that last dose when the crop is bigger where you have to be very careful. There are plenty of advantages like accuracy, particularly on headlands, corners etc etc. No bags to unload/ load/ get rid of. Easy logistics in some regards. Itdoes also seem to get into the crop quicker. I do about 50/50 solid/ liquid and try to do most of the last dose with solid. It works well for me.
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
Unless you’re applying to the flag leaf you will do NO harm. We are applying about 1000t / yr and have done for around 20 years, dribble bars are without doubt the best application method but current sprayer dictates nozzles. I still don’t worry unless it’s literally blowing a gale.
- Location
- Chipping norton
- Location
- Lincolnshire
For me,its just down to a simpler life,
I've bought a Geo spreader now which is sat on one tractor which I can jump on at a drop of a hat,plus it takes some of the workload off my sprayer
Bag storage is not an issue for me,also l can take delivery in June when I'm quiet,plus bag disposal not a problem as Mountains are just up the road so will take cans/ bags in one go,when I've got time to spare.
I know with liquid they unload themselves but I'm a bit concerned about some a** hole messing with the tanks when they are full,I know they can/are bunded and locked but not 110% thats one less issue for me to be concerned about,if I spill some solid at least I can clean it up!
I'm looking into getting a rear mounted auger for one of my big Bailey trailers for next spreading season as my highlift is not big enough now,now I'm on 36m.
This year I sprayed all my heath wheats with a Hamlet/Bio then turned around and threw on its N the next day,couldn't have done that with liquid.
I wish all best for the people on liquid and to those that a going to try it.
I've tried it
Its not for me.
Chae1
Member
- Location
- Aberdeenshire
Are you doing all your fert at 36m!?
- Location
- Holderness
Where do you buy your molasses from? Is it in an IBC?
Mr Charisma
Member
- Location
- stratford on Avon
We have had 2 big local users of liquid in the past go to solid
The one I know was because it meant that it didn't tie the sprayer up and they had man power to run the 2 operations at the same time , and usually when it was 5 pm on a fri night everyone went home for the weekend
- Location
- northampton
I buy 5ton at a time from kw feeds but they will deliver you a ibc if you want
It has to suit your own logistics. It worked for them. There's no right or worng answer - granular urea is the best value N and is a bulk global commodity, if you can get it to spread to the widths you want. I wouldn't have gone to 36m if I'd stayed with solid but the loss of a member of staff prompted a rethink here, plus my sprayer driver likes overtime, or at least the income from it.
FarmerBruce
Member
- Location
- Yorkshire
Is a frost the night after application a major issue??
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Yes
ollie989898
Member
I would go liquid every time, particularly if people are talking big loads of fert being handled, stored, moved, then disposing of the bags, lumps/dust. Can't spread in the wind, can't spread in the rain. Liquid solves all of these problems. Sooner have a second sprayer on the job and a second or third man cross trained to use it. More accurate and so easy to do, especially with GPS.
Also cleans out sprayers a treat.
Also cleans out sprayers a treat.
samsung
Member
- Location
- North Yorks
So, spoke to ED & F Man today about molasses tank mix to reduce scorch , very encouraging , and yes he is sellong the stuff !
But will post more when I know more.
Ironically the last application is showing very few signs of scorch !
But will post more when I know more.
Ironically the last application is showing very few signs of scorch !