Pros and cons of liquid fert vs granular??
- Thread starter Zan
- Start date
I'll add to that - with granular you can (in theory at least) spread fert and spray at the same time, its generally cheaper, less wash outs, less supply problems, less time folding booms to change fields and negociate trees and poles, faster headland turns, cheaper machine than sprayer, no bowser required, lighter machine in a wet spring.
Granular fert will never get the accuracy of liquid (not by broadcasting anyway), or achieve the advantages mentioned by @ewald above.
Here? mostly granular, bit of liquid with pre em herbicides in spring.
ollie989898
Member
If you have a big enough arable area, it's a complete no brainer. Seriously.
No bags to handle, saving shed space for this hugely valuable straw you have heard mentioned. No dust, no bags to dispose of, no trying to fit fert into a hopper reaching around cutting bags or reaching up above the ground.
Apply fertiliser in virtually whatever wind you want, and accurately, without throwing any in the hedge bottom, so less thistles and carp growing in them.
No more fertiliser spreader to have to wash daily and watch oxidise anyway. No vanes or settings to cock up or wear out.
Unloading fert or loading fert becomes a doddle, and no telehandler needed, ideal for away sheds/stores where you always had to run a telehandler there first to get loaded.
The downside is that you won't bother owning a fertiliser spreader any longer, so P and K becomes a borrow a friends machine or, even better you get a contractor in to spread biosolids or fibrophos for you.
It is possible to scorch a crop but I have not seen it bad for a long time. The classic is once the flag leaf is fully out and the weather is quite warm and someone does it in the evening when the air is hot.
Liquid fert cleans your sprayer out a treat, too.
No more lumpy/solid fert to have to deal with.
Not the cheapest option, but you can of course make your own but that's a separate thread of it's own.
You will need tanks, securely locked, on decent concrete, barriers around them and bunded I suspect these days.
No bags to handle, saving shed space for this hugely valuable straw you have heard mentioned. No dust, no bags to dispose of, no trying to fit fert into a hopper reaching around cutting bags or reaching up above the ground.
Apply fertiliser in virtually whatever wind you want, and accurately, without throwing any in the hedge bottom, so less thistles and carp growing in them.
No more fertiliser spreader to have to wash daily and watch oxidise anyway. No vanes or settings to cock up or wear out.
Unloading fert or loading fert becomes a doddle, and no telehandler needed, ideal for away sheds/stores where you always had to run a telehandler there first to get loaded.
The downside is that you won't bother owning a fertiliser spreader any longer, so P and K becomes a borrow a friends machine or, even better you get a contractor in to spread biosolids or fibrophos for you.
It is possible to scorch a crop but I have not seen it bad for a long time. The classic is once the flag leaf is fully out and the weather is quite warm and someone does it in the evening when the air is hot.
Liquid fert cleans your sprayer out a treat, too.
No more lumpy/solid fert to have to deal with.
Not the cheapest option, but you can of course make your own but that's a separate thread of it's own.
You will need tanks, securely locked, on decent concrete, barriers around them and bunded I suspect these days.
wellingtonfarmer
Member
- Location
- Herefordshire
I use liquid but buy solids for grassland and I find liquid is usually cheaper?
Admittedly I don't buy much solid!
Admittedly I don't buy much solid!
Telehandler availability can be a major issue (particularly when spreading) .
Fairly trivial point - part bags at the end of the field. With solid you end up with bits of bags, or overdose to use up the last bit - with liquid it pumps back into the tank. Saves money/waste
Fairly trivial point - part bags at the end of the field. With solid you end up with bits of bags, or overdose to use up the last bit - with liquid it pumps back into the tank. Saves money/waste
- Location
- Cambridgeshire UK
Usually someone comes along and says there is a risk of it rotting your sprayer, it doesn't, it's much cleaner to use than granular.
Nitrogen fertilizer is still corrosive, in whatever form.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Thanks for the tag, Steevo 
@Zan - Do a search in Cropping and Machinery forums for "liquid vs solid" fertiliser. There have been a few threads on this.
I'm on 36m booms and have recently upgraded from 30m with a mixture of solid & liquid to all liquid. Instead of 3 staff doing spraying + full time forklift + a mounted spinner I now have 1 spraying with another on bowser backup for both jobs at peak periods. A reduced crop area means I don't need the extra capacity of running both gangs & I've lost a full time member of staff who won't be replaced so the numbers are dictated by this anyway.
>24m means you're looking at top quality bagged products to get an even spread. Liquid is priced to match Nitram/Extran by the majors (Omex, BFS, Frontier/Bunn, Yara). The liquid market is more competitive since the Yara monopoly was broken a few years ago.
Tanks - best to buy your own but the suppliers will rent them to you cheaply. Aim to store approx 50% of your peak requirement to allow time for tankers to catch up and to store cheaper out of season deliveries.
Sprayer - yes, it eats metal but a well built machine kept tidy is fine. Beware of putting liquid fertiliser in a machine without lots of stainless steel and a very strong tank/chassis. Liquid is 1.3 times as dense as water so a ropey rusty old sprayer won't withstand the extra strain.
If you want to go down the route of metling your own solid then @Clive @Colin and @Andrew K are just a few doing this.
@Zan - Do a search in Cropping and Machinery forums for "liquid vs solid" fertiliser. There have been a few threads on this.
I'm on 36m booms and have recently upgraded from 30m with a mixture of solid & liquid to all liquid. Instead of 3 staff doing spraying + full time forklift + a mounted spinner I now have 1 spraying with another on bowser backup for both jobs at peak periods. A reduced crop area means I don't need the extra capacity of running both gangs & I've lost a full time member of staff who won't be replaced so the numbers are dictated by this anyway.
>24m means you're looking at top quality bagged products to get an even spread. Liquid is priced to match Nitram/Extran by the majors (Omex, BFS, Frontier/Bunn, Yara). The liquid market is more competitive since the Yara monopoly was broken a few years ago.
Tanks - best to buy your own but the suppliers will rent them to you cheaply. Aim to store approx 50% of your peak requirement to allow time for tankers to catch up and to store cheaper out of season deliveries.
Sprayer - yes, it eats metal but a well built machine kept tidy is fine. Beware of putting liquid fertiliser in a machine without lots of stainless steel and a very strong tank/chassis. Liquid is 1.3 times as dense as water so a ropey rusty old sprayer won't withstand the extra strain.
If you want to go down the route of metling your own solid then @Clive @Colin and @Andrew K are just a few doing this.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
@Zan
I went liquid this last spring,I don't regret it now,I rent my tanks,I was on nozzles but switched to dribble bars,in my opinion far superior.
This year I've got 1/3 of my fert in solid,mainly so I can on my heavy ground with a bit lighter machine.I'm on 36m trams and had no issues with spreading at that distance,
I do really like the accuracy of liquid on the headland,especially as I've got a lot of small fields.
I'm well set up for both,bowser if on liquid fert and high lift trailer for solid.
It always amazes me more people don't use high lift trailers for solid fert,speeds the job up no end,then the forklift stops in the yard at the stack,plus you can put in as much or as little in the spreader,so its no different to a bowser.
I'm sat on the fence now, both have advantages and disadvantages.
Did someone mention scorch
I'll get my coat.
I went liquid this last spring,I don't regret it now,I rent my tanks,I was on nozzles but switched to dribble bars,in my opinion far superior.
This year I've got 1/3 of my fert in solid,mainly so I can on my heavy ground with a bit lighter machine.I'm on 36m trams and had no issues with spreading at that distance,
I do really like the accuracy of liquid on the headland,especially as I've got a lot of small fields.
I'm well set up for both,bowser if on liquid fert and high lift trailer for solid.
It always amazes me more people don't use high lift trailers for solid fert,speeds the job up no end,then the forklift stops in the yard at the stack,plus you can put in as much or as little in the spreader,so its no different to a bowser.
I'm sat on the fence now, both have advantages and disadvantages.
Did someone mention scorch
I'll get my coat.
ollie989898
Member
So are a number of ag-chems to be fair.
ollie989898
Member
Use the liquid on the grass as well, the accuracy of it and the lack of any ending up in the hedge is a bonus as the weeds will no longer go mad there.
It is hellish heavy as someone said but if you have just saved the neck end of 10K not buying a fert spreader you can add it on to get an uprated snazzy sprayer which in actuality will repay you more.
The other thing no one has mentioned is that I am certain in a lot of conditions, liquid will cause the crop to respond faster.
It is hellish heavy as someone said but if you have just saved the neck end of 10K not buying a fert spreader you can add it on to get an uprated snazzy sprayer which in actuality will repay you more.
The other thing no one has mentioned is that I am certain in a lot of conditions, liquid will cause the crop to respond faster.
Fish
Member
- Location
- North yorkshire
You won't rot much out with liquid urea, but both an and as in liquid form are very corrosive.
@Zan
I went liquid this last spring,I don't regret it now,I rent my tanks,I was on nozzles but switched to dribble bars,in my opinion far superior.
This year I've got 1/3 of my fert in solid,mainly so I can on my heavy ground with a bit lighter machine.I'm on 36m trams and had no issues with spreading at that distance,
I do really like the accuracy of liquid on the headland,especially as I've got a lot of small fields.
I'm well set up for both,bowser if on liquid fert and high lift trailer for solid.
It always amazes me more people don't use high lift trailers for solid fert,speeds the job up no end,then the forklift stops in the yard at the stack,plus you can put in as much or as little in the spreader,so its no different to a bowser.
I'm sat on the fence now, both have advantages and disadvantages.
Did someone mention scorch
I'll get my coat.
What's a lighter machine? Won't your s/p with wide tyres travel better anyway?
- Location
- Lincolnshire
I can put my Amazone spreader on the back of my 3D aggribuggy.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Are you sure?
- Location
- Essex
10 good reasons to go liquid on attached pdf.