Read about using NavigatePro to assist in nutrient planning in the September 2024 issue of Crop Production Magazine:
Nutrient Plans: Planning for Success
Mike Duckworth, Wings Farm, Granborough, Buckinghamshire
NavigatePro has allowed Mike to improve the efficiency of his farming operation, increased his profitability and given him the reassurance and confidence that he is farming in an environmentally friendly way.
Mike says: “Whilst there are many benefits from using the NavigatePro tool but the most useful aspect of the system is the spreading summary. This makes planning field work much easier whilst at the same time ensuring the correct fertiliser is applied at the optimum time.”
Originally a dairy farmer Mike has converted to beef production with 170 beef cattle (Aberdeen Angus and Holstein Fresians) being contract reared and fattened per year. The farm is heavy clay with 100ha permanent/temporary grass,16ha forage maize,18ha feed wheat
The need for careful use of manures and fertilisers is something Mike has been aware of for many years. Some 15 years ago, working closely with his adviser, Robin Thompson, Mike began using the EnCompass tool to optimise inputs.
Today still working with Robin he’s switched to the new innovative NavigatePro tool which has many advantages:
- Accurate and effective fertiliser recommendations
- Compliance reports for peace of mind
- Tonnage summary of the different fertilisers required: straight N, NS, small amount of DAP, allowing him to order and receive delivery at the optimum time
- And that all important spreading summary
Mike recently took advantage of a free NVZ compliance check offered a local land agent. The agent reported back that from a compliance perspective he was very impressed with NavigatePro.
Andrew Clarke, C E Clarke & Sons, Gooms Hill Farm, Inkberrow, Worcestershire
“Using the NavigatePro tool has enabled us to target nutrients where they are needed meaning we have saved a substantial sum on fertiliser inputs costs.”
Andrew Clarke farms in partnership with his mother and brother. It’s a mixed farm of sheep and arable plus a number of contract farming agreements. The arable enterprise includes wheat, barley, oilseed rape, beans, peas and stubble turnips grown for over-wintering ewes and fat lambs. Soils are clay to clay loam.
He explains further: “At one time we would have applied MOP routinely across the majority of the land we farm. But increases in prices and market volatility has meant that we have been constantly reviewing our costs of production. Using the results from strategic soil sampling of the home farm and the land we farm under contract within NavigatePro has shown us where we can make input savings and importantly target applications.
“Trying to balance P & K inputs with offtake isn’t something which we considered in the past, but the NavigatePro tool calculates an overall P & K balance by automatically accounting for nutrients removed in the crop at harvest and balancing those offtakes with P & K supplied by fertiliser, box muck and imported biosolids.
“NavigatePro calculates the nutrient value of the organic inputs we are applying so I know how much extra fertiliser I need to apply.
“Because the tool digitally connects to RB209 [national fertiliser recommendation system] it means that crop requirements are automatically kept up to date when recommendations are reviewed and updated by AHDB. This means that crops are optimally supplied with nutrients from the soil, the bag, and organic inputs.
“NavigatePro encouraged me to see that the nutrient management plan is a living document, evolving through the spring. It allows me to quickly adapt when best made plans have to change.
“In short, whilst nutrient planning can be a daunting process, particularly with NVZs and the farming rules for water I’ve found that NavigatePro has taken the complexity out of the process. It provides all the necessary evidence to comply with the farming rules for water and NVZs, keeps all records and analysis in one place and results in simple actions that are easy to follow and implement.”