Crop Nutrition Club

Farmers, advisors and researchers working together to understand and improve crop nutrition on-farm

What Ideas do we have for improving crop nutrition?

Local or regional benchmarking of grain analysis & soil metrics
LearN-type tramline trials testing 50 kg N/ha more or less, in light of higher N fertiliser prices
Testing N efficiency products - eg urease inhibitors
Patch testing of fertiliser products & micronutrients - see below
- Product Application Patches (PAPs) & Product Omission Patches (POPs)!
Line Trial Micronutrient applications in response to apparently deficient soil, tissue and/or grain results
Using crop sensors and monitoring to inform nutrient status
- Leaf Colour Charts
- BRIX meters
- Satellite sensing - Mercury
Leaf Tissue testing
Crop Nutrition Challenge
- Slot trial where teams compete for the most profitable nutrition program, like the Fungicide Challenge
Working at Catchment level, eg with Anglia Water
Fertiliser placement with DAP (&/or other P/K products) in spring crops
Living mulches - using clover understory or undersowing with lucerne

Patch tests for P and K

With high grain prices, it’s worth paying extra attention to optimising crop nutrition
YEN Nutrition grain analysis data suggests many crops may be deficient in P, and some in K

Why not try a patch test to evaluate the effects of fresh soil P or K applications?

Choose a field with historically lower P or K indices
Keeping in mind the underlying variation across your field, choose an even area to locate your trial
Mark a patch – two tramlines wide and 60-100m long – with flags in the wheelings
Either apply soil P or K to this patch and not to the surrounding field, or apply to the surrounding field and miss this patch
Record the positions of the four flags, e.g. with a mobile app such as ‘GPS coordinates’
Photograph any visible differences between the patch and the surrounding crop; to look for effects, you can also use satellite imagery (e.g. www.datafarming.com.au)
Share your ideas and questions about your trial, and compare your results with other farmers’ experiences in the comments section of this page

Farm PEP Trial Tool

ADAS are developing a ‘Farm Trials Tool’ to make it easier for you to trial ideas in your farm, and help you analyse yield map data to determine the results of your patch test. The software is being developed, and a prototype version should be available on the Farm-PEP website by harvest 2023.

We want to make sure the final product is useful and meet the neds of farmers and advisors, so we would love to get your feedback! If you are interested in having your say and helping us design these ‘Farm Trial Tools’, you can join our autumn-winter workshops; in these online, hour-long events we will discuss your requirements and share early prototypes of the software for you to comment on. Join our list by contacting Susie.roques@adas.co.uk.

Related Organisations

Connected Content

ADAS

ADAS provides ideas, specialist knowledge and solutions to secure our food and enhance the environment. We understand food production and the challenges and opportunities faced by organisations operating in the natural environment

NCSPulse PEP

Innovative Farmers

Innovative Farmers was established in 2012 by the Soil Association with the aim of bringing scientific rigour to on-farm trials co-designed by farmers and researchers. With a focus on sustainability and resilience, groups come together on discrete topics and on-farm trials addressing the topics that matter to them.

Foliar Nutrition

Foliar sprays can be more efficient than feeding crops via the soil: they can be more targeted, cheaper, and less environmentally damaging than soil-mediated crop nutrition. But this is not always so: can foliar nutrition be made reliable ... to support sustainable crop nutrition?

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is required annually by most crops (except pulses) to achieve yield and quality. Judging how much N to apply is a key part of nutrient management.

NCSPulse PEP

Crop Nutrition

Plants need around 12 essential mineral nutrients to grow: Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), Sulphur (S), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Boron (B) and Molybdenum (Mo).

Agronomics

Agronomics is the science of understanding the variation in the cropped environment, identifying the management practices and system designs that work. It uses a farm centric approach of shared farm data and on-farm experimentation.

Agronomics Line Trials

Supporting farmers with robust design and analysis of on-farm experiments in tramline trials.

On Farm Experimentation

On Farm Experimentation (OFE) is increasingly being recognised as having transformative power in improving performance in agricultural systems across the world.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient for both plants and animals, playing a key role in energy transfer as a major component of ATP. It is also vital in DNA. For full capture & conversion of solar energy, crop canopies need 30-40 kg/ha P. Crop species redistribute most of this P (~85%; more than for any other nutrient) to their seeds during canopy senescence, where it is stored as phytate. Plants appear to do this because, until their roots proliferate, plant seedlings are highly sensitive to P shortages.

Farm-PEP

The ideas behind Farm-PEP came together in ~2018, drawing from the developments of Agronomics, the YENs, AHDB's Monitor Farm programme and the idea of a 'What Works' Centre for Agriculture.

AICC

AICC member agronomists are now the preferred source of advice on over 2.2 million hectares, which is almost half of the UK’s arable land, and the demand for it is stronger than ever

Grain nutrient analysis

Analysing grain for all 12 nutrients can be an effective tool to improve nutrient management, providing information on crop nutrient status and nutrient offtakes. It can indicate whether your crops are getting hold of the nutrients they need, or whether you can save on future fertiliser use.

How best to respond to costly fertiliser nitrogen for use in 2022

Review conducted by ADAS and funded by AHDB into how farmers should respond to the high fertiliser (& grain) prices experienced in 2022.

On-farm trials: five principles for success

ADAS have produced a new guide with our five top tips for successful on-farm trials. We'd love you to give it a try and to hear about what products or approaches you're testing on farm - by sharing the results of trials, we can learn more together.

Pulse PEP

Enhanced Efficiency Fertilisers

A range of products are commercially available that claim to enable more efficient nutrient uptake, allowing less nutrient to be applied as fertiliser.

YEN Nutrition

YEN Nutrition brings together those wanting to achieve more precise crop nutrition. High fertiliser prices now make this vital. Assuming that 'crops know best' engagement in YEN Nutrition starts by benchmarking grain nutrients to show those that were limiting (or excessive) for each crop.

AICC Crop Nutrition Club

AICC Advisors and farmers testing appropriate nitrogen rates and strategies for reduction in light of current high prices. Brought together by the FarmPEP FIP project

Managing Nutrients Better

Share your ideas and experience of how to improve nutrient efficiency and reduce dependence on artificial fertilisers

Trial report: Blue N on sugar beet

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2023, this on-farm sugar beet trial tested the effects of applying Blue N and the extent to which its use can compensate for a reduced N rate. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics analysis of Sentinel2 satellite imagery by ADAS.

Patch tests for P and K

Within our Farm-PEP Innovate UK project we are looking to develop 'patch testing' as an approach

Nutrient Management

Managing nutrients effectively is crucial for our soils, crops, livestock and environment. There are many resources and initiatives available to help.

LearN

AHDB project from 2014-2018 working with farmers to monitor and optimise their nitrogen fertiliser rates on-farm.

Dynamic Benchmarking

Benchmarking is at the core of the YENs and the FarmPEP approach

Crop Monitoring

You need to measure to be able to manage. Yet most farms for most crops don't have a systematic approach to monitoring their crops through the season. This means we lose the opportunity to compare across fields, farms and years. There are now a suite of technologies to sense crops and the ability to share data across farms, providing the opportunity to learn what works on-farm.

Crop Monitoring Club

Are you interested in Crop Monitoring? Join this club to share ideas and experiences with the tools that are out there, and perhaps develop proposals and projects.

Benchmarking

Living Mulch

Interest is growing in using legumes like lucerne or clover as a permanent understory to cereal crops to provide nitrogen through the season.

Trial report: Utrisha N on winter oats

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2022, this on-farm winter oats trial tested the effects of applying Utrisha N. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: Utrisha N on winter wheat

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2022, this on-farm winter wheat trial tested the effects of applying Utrisha N at two contrasting N rates. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: T3 biostimulants on winter wheat

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2022, this on-farm winter wheat trial tested two biostimulants (3 Alo T6P and Nutrino Pro) applied as a tank mix with fungicides at the T3 timing. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: testing N rates from 140 to 260 kg/ha on winter wheat

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2022, this on-farm winter wheat trial compared N rates from 140 to 260 kg/ha, including the N rate recommended by the Yara N tester. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: testing N rates from 150 to 250 kg/ha on winter wheat

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2022, this on-farm winter wheat trial compared N rates from 150 to 250 kg/ha, including the N rate recommended by the Yara N tester. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: effects on winter wheat yield of reducing N rate by 50 kg/ha

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2022, this simple on-farm winter wheat trial in Nottinghamshire tested the yield effect of reducing N rate from the 'farm standard' of 220 kg/ha to 170 kg/ha. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and reporting from ADAS.

Trial report: can Didin slow N release enough to allow a single split timing?

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2022, these two on-farm winter wheat trials tested whether the N inhibitor Didin can sufficiently slow N release to allow the whole season's N fertiliser to be applied as UAN in a single split. The 'farm standard' control treatment consisted of the same N rate applied as UAN over three split timings without an inhibitor. Trials were facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: testing N rates from 140 to 260 kg/ha on winter wheat (B)

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2022, this on-farm winter wheat trial compared N rates from 140 to 260 kg/ha, including the N rate recommended by the Yara N tester amd one treatment with additional Poly N Plus. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: Clover living mulches in winter wheat

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2023, this on-farm winter wheat trial tested the benefits of clover living mulches in winter wheat. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: Väderstad Rapid vs Horsch Sprinter drill comparison in winter wheat

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2023, this on-farm winter wheat trial compared the effects of using two different drills, a Väderstad Rapid and Horsch Sprinter. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: Nutrino Pro foliar N on winter wheat

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2023, this on-farm winter wheat trial tested the effects of applying Nutrino Pro foliar N at T2 and T3. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: Kverneland TS Evo vs Horsch Sprinter drill comparison in spring barley

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2023, this on-farm spring barley trial compared the effects of using two different drills, a Kverneland TS Evo and Horsch Sprinter. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.

Trial report: L-CBF Boost liquid carbon fertiliser on winter wheat

As part of the AICC Crop Nutrition Club 2023, this on-farm winter wheat trial tested the effects of applying L-CBF Boost liquid carbon fertiliser. The trial was facilitated by a local AICC advisor, with support and Agronomics yield map analysis from ADAS.