units of N per acre

DeeGee

Member
Location
North East Wales
A bag of Nitram per acre was 34.5%N in one hundredweight or 50kg.
So when all ferts were delivered in small bags of 50kg we used to put on two or three bags per acre of whatever analysis the fertilizer was.

So for hay or silage we would probably put three bags per acre of 20.8.14 or 20.10.10 giving 60N per acre, and whatever units of P and K.

I still think and work in units per acre or bags per acre; I always will, and I have to consciously work out mentally what is meant by kg per hectare.

I have no doubt that kg per hectare is far easier to comprehend for younger farmers, but it will always need to be converted back to units per acre or bags per acre in my case, because that is how we were always taught to think about and apply fertilizer.

PS I think that both kg per hectare and units per acre are quite close.
If I am not mistaken 120kg per hectare is roughly 100 units per acre?
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
Much easier to stick with bags per acre or units per acre just like we did in the good old days before all this metrication and the LBGT gender neutral lavatories nonsense.

Then it was safe for children to play outside, as long as Myra Hindley wasn’t about, and you could leave your front door unlocked so that nosey neighbours could drop in and make themselves a cup of tea and put their feet up on your kitchen table.

But I digress, as my mind wanders back to those halcyon days of pikels and Hessian sacks; TVO and flapping belts, milk churns and cutter bar hedge cutters.

The only problem is that if you told anyone under forty years of age to put on three bags per acre of Nitram they would use 1800kg to travel half way round the headland of a ten acre field.
Well I'm only 33 and If you told me that I would put on 375 kg/ha. I must admit I spent my youth working in hundredweight to the acre and kg per acre because of dad but now work in kg/ha as that's what our spreader does and find in so much simpler. You may also find it simpler if you tried and your younger generation too after all decimalisation was nearly 50 years ago, but don't go into a pizza shop and ask for a 300mm pizza
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
Am i right in thinking 100kg of N per acre is 40 units per acre?

NO.....40 units/ac equals 100 units/ha which is 50kg/n/ha

depends also if you're talking plant food....i work in 'bags'/ac (50kg)

NOW.....1 bag of 34.5% equals 34.5 units or 17.25kg/n as plant food....because you halve the units

SO 100kg of N/ha is just under 300kg of 34.5% fert....so you need 6 'bags'/ha to do this or 2.4 'bags'/ac
 

marcot

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bury St Edmunds
NO.....40 units/ac equals 100 units/ha which is 50kg/n/ha

depends also if you're talking plant food....i work in 'bags'/ac (50kg)

NOW.....1 bag of 34.5% equals 34.5 units or 17.25kg/n as plant food....because you halve the units

SO 100kg of N/ha is just under 300kg of 34.5% fert....so you need 6 'bags'/ha to do this or 2.4 'bags'/ac
Well that's not making something very simple over complicated is it? lol

What on earth is wrong with kgsN/ha ? Then it doesn't matter what size your "bag" is or what %of N it's got in it ....metrication was standardised for a reason ....its easy maths .
 

texelburger

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Herefordshire
I am a certain age,units/acre for me,just can't change.I understand kg/ha and kg/product/ha but units is so simple for me.Now where's my zimmer frame as I'm off to the rugby club.
 

Honest john

Member
Location
Fenland
Am i right in thinking 100kg of N per acre is 40 units per acre

One would normally use Kg/ha.
If you mean 100 kg/ha then x .8 = 80 units.

However if you mean 100 kg ac as written then 100 kg x 2.471 = 247 kg/ha x .8 = 198 units ac.

Or do you mean 100 kg of product ?

100 kg = 4 x 25kg bags of say 34%
So 4x34 = 136 units/ac.

:banghead:
 

Chickcatcher

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
SG9
Now Class!
You should really pay more attention. Under Cropping there is a post "Nitrogen Yet" on page 44 and posted at number 867 I explained all of this so you could do the Exam and get the correct result! So I post again but it is "20 days" since originally posted. R

So lets see how far being pedantic gets me!
But are my facts really correct?
20*112Lbs =2240 Lbs =1 TON which = 1.01604 Tonnes
1 Tonne = 1000Kg = 2204.63Lbs so would be 19.6785 bags @ 112lbs
A 50Kg bag =110.2315Lbs

IS Nitram 34.5% N?
IS Urea 46% N?
Nitram
So if an old bag (112Lbs) was 34.5 units (690units/ton) and you put 1.5 bags per acre (168Lbs) you put on 51.75 units/acre.
If a new bag is 50Kg it would have 33.955units and 1.5 bags/acre would be 50.9328 units/acre
Urea
I don't remember ever seeing urea when we were imperial measured but against above would it have been,
51.52 units/cwt (cwt=1 bag old money) ((2240lbs@46%)=1030.4Units/ton/20)
And if a new bag (50Kg) is 23Kgs of Urea and you put on 1.5 bags (75Kg)/acre you put on 34.5 kgs/acre which equals ????????units


My answer is! Dose it really matter, when we put it through our spreaders are we so accurate/sqMtr that we can achieve 0.007128 Kg/Sq yard
"Is it really so little"
As that makes 180kgN/Ha 0.018KgN/SqMtr = 391.3Kg product/Ha (@46%) = 0,03913Kg/SqMtr.
Such little amountcan make so much difference.
Friday finished N application total so far 165KgN/Ha =358.695Kg product =0.0358695Kg/SqMtr "Oh how many UNITS"

If only I had entered the London Marathon today. I wouldn't have been able to share such knowledge with All who waste there time reading this Regards R lost for a constructive job at the moment
 

DeeGee

Member
Location
North East Wales
Now Class!
You should really pay more attention. Under Cropping there is a post "Nitrogen Yet" on page 44 and posted at number 867 I explained all of this so you could do the Exam and get the correct result! So I post again but it is "20 days" since originally posted. R

So lets see how far being pedantic gets me!
But are my facts really correct?
20*112Lbs =2240 Lbs =1 TON which = 1.01604 Tonnes
1 Tonne = 1000Kg = 2204.63Lbs so would be 19.6785 bags @ 112lbs
A 50Kg bag =110.2315Lbs

IS Nitram 34.5% N?
IS Urea 46% N?
Nitram
So if an old bag (112Lbs) was 34.5 units (690units/ton) and you put 1.5 bags per acre (168Lbs) you put on 51.75 units/acre.
If a new bag is 50Kg it would have 33.955units and 1.5 bags/acre would be 50.9328 units/acre
Urea
I don't remember ever seeing urea when we were imperial measured but against above would it have been,
51.52 units/cwt (cwt=1 bag old money) ((2240lbs@46%)=1030.4Units/ton/20)
And if a new bag (50Kg) is 23Kgs of Urea and you put on 1.5 bags (75Kg)/acre you put on 34.5 kgs/acre which equals ????????units


My answer is! Dose it really matter, when we put it through our spreaders are we so accurate/sqMtr that we can achieve 0.007128 Kg/Sq yard
"Is it really so little"
As that makes 180kgN/Ha 0.018KgN/SqMtr = 391.3Kg product/Ha (@46%) = 0,03913Kg/SqMtr.
Such little amountcan make so much difference.
Friday finished N application total so far 165KgN/Ha =358.695Kg product =0.0358695Kg/SqMtr "Oh how many UNITS"

If only I had entered the London Marathon today. I wouldn't have been able to share such knowledge with All who waste there time reading this Regards R lost for a constructive job at the moment

You have such a natural gift for brevity and clarity Chickcatcher.
 

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