Using straight N haylage

[Robw54]

Looking to use some straight AN this year, 34% rather than usual 25-5-5 which we normally apply as it work out about third cheaper for the same N bang and less tonnage to spread. We only take one decent cut, indicies are good and land gets mucked in the Autumn to put back some P&K.

Never used it before - does it spread same?

 

[Purli R]

you will never know if you dont try it make sure ferti spreader is set to 34.5 &wach it grow-simples!

 

[neilo]

It will spread as well but, as posted above, you will need different spreader settings.

The term you're looking for, that they use over on the cropping pages, is that you are "taking a P&K holiday". OK in the short term if you're indices are OK, but will soon pull it down if you're taking off all the time (but muck will help).

If you are just concerned about price per unit of N, urea is a lot cheaper again these last couple of years. I'm certainly not using AN any more.

 

[sleepy]

Looking to use some straight AN this year, 34% rather than usual 25-5-5 which we normally apply as it work out about third cheaper for the same N bang and less tonnage to spread. We only take one decent cut, indicies are good and land gets mucked in the Autumn to put back some P&K.

Never used it before - does it spread same?

Why not urea? Much cheaper than AN

 

[Robw54]

Why not urea? Much cheaper than AN

Doesn't that suffer higher loses? I,d be worried about any overlap on spreader as well, then again I don't put masses on. Any more than 25kg acre N struggled to keep it standing into June and them extra bales get expensive.

Not much market this year and expect a lot more arable might get grassed and baled this year...so keeping a lid on production !

 

[sleepy]

Doesn't that suffer higher loses? I,d be worried about any overlap on spreader as well, then again I don't put masses on. Any more than 25kg acre N struggled to keep it standing into June and them extra bales get expensive.

Not much market this year and expect a lot more arable might get grassed and baled this year...so keeping a lid on production !

No I think the losses thing is rubbish pedalled by AN salesmen. Our tentative plan is to use Urea / Sulfur blend for first cut then maybe AN for second.

I doubt much more arable will get grassed down, too many been bitten before. Quality will still sell.

 

[Robw54]

No I think the losses thing is rubbish pedalled by AN salesmen. Our tentative plan is to use Urea / Sulfur blend for first cut then maybe AN for second.

I doubt much more arable will get grassed down, too many been bitten before. Quality will still sell.

Do you p k in Autumn? We've been banging on muck in Autumn last few years and I'm def getting more for less bagged now the following year.

 

[neilo]

No I think the losses thing is rubbish pedalled by AN salesmen. Our tentative plan is to use Urea / Sulfur blend for first cut then maybe AN for second.

+1 Most of the world only uses urea as a source of N, and most of those places are an awful lot hotter & drier than the UK ever is.

Urea volatilisation may be the best marketing ploy ever, by the AN manufacturers/salesmen. The advantage to everyone else of course, is that the price difference means you could afford to lose 30% of the N, and still be no worse off!

 

[neilo]

Doesn't that suffer higher loses? I,d be worried about any overlap on spreader as well, then again I don't put masses on. Any more than 25kg acre N struggled to keep it standing into June and them extra bales get expensive.

Not much market this year and expect a lot more arable might get grassed and baled this year...so keeping a lid on production !

Why would you be more concerned about overlap from urea? If you put X kg of N/ha on from urea, you'll be applying less kg of product per ha than you would with AN. Any overlap would overdose by the same amount of N, whatever the source.

 

[sleepy]

Do you p k in Autumn? We've been banging on muck in Autumn last few years and I'm def getting more for less bagged now the following year.

There's not much p&k in horse dung mind, mainly weed seeds.

 

[PFH]

Does anybody on here use CAN on their grassland?

 

[neilo]

Does anybody on here use CAN on their grassland?

I used to when I moved here, but the price differential for urea is too great to ignore any longer, IMO.

 

[M-J-G]

I don't use much bagged N as we get pig slurry from a neighbour, but when we do use any, we use urea and have done for many years. It does fine, and is a cheaper product per Kg of straight N

There will be losses with Urea in a hot spell if it's not applied with some rain in the mix, but then again there's not much point in applying any form of N in a dry period as it will do nothing at best.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Whats the grass, Straight Ryegrass or mixture with clover

 

[Princess Pooper]

+1 Most of the world only uses urea as a source of N, and most of those places are an awful lot hotter & drier than the UK ever is.

Urea volatilisation may be the best marketing ploy ever, by the AN manufacturers/salesmen. The advantage to everyone else of course, is that the price difference means you could afford to lose 30% of the N, and still be no worse off!

No it's not the best marketing plan ever, there is plenty of independent research proving the potential losses from urea volatilisation dependent on conditions. You might be able to afford to lose 30% of it but how environmentally responsible is that?

 

[czechmate]

No it's not the best marketing plan ever, there is plenty of independent research proving the potential losses from urea volatilisation dependent on conditions. You might be able to afford to lose 30% of it but how environmentally responsible is that?

If you used an, in a situation where you would loose 30% of urea, what %age an would you loose?
29%?

Just to add,
When I switched some 8 or so years ago, I applied no extra mathematical n at all. Yields went up a bit but probably due to other factors

 

[Jackson4]

As long as your indices are good... been raping my land for a good oh 4/5 years now and used straight can on some fields and come june things suddenly stopped growing, went a bit yellow and then shoved some seed heads up.. whoops! Best get alot of 20-10-10 this year.

 

[sleepy]

As long as your indices are good... been raping my land for a good oh 4/5 years now and used straight can on some fields and come june things suddenly stopped growing, went a bit yellow and then shoved some seed heads up.. whoops! Best get alot of 20-10-10 this year.

Fibrophos might be cheaper

 

[czechmate]

Fibrophos might be cheaper

Rotational grazing?

 

[neilo]

No it's not the best marketing plan ever, there is plenty of independent research proving the potential losses from urea volatilisation dependent on conditions. You might be able to afford to lose 30% of it but how environmentally responsible is that?

Most of the independent research I've seen has shown the volatisation issues are very much overstated. The trials funded by the likes of Yara do indeed show up to 30% losses. I wonder why?

As to environmental responsibility, N that is lost from urea to the air joins the 79% of air that is Nitrogen. The much higher potential leaching losses from AN, get into the water table as nitrate. Which is most environmentally responsible?

On top of that, I am led to believe that AN has a much greater acidification effect on the soil, damaging soil biology more.