Improving soil health is top of the government’s agenda in the years ahead and with input costs rising rapidly it is essential to maximise crop production which can only be done when you soils are in tip-top health.

There are a number of factors which can improve the health status of your soils but reducing soil movement is key to reduced compaction which helps reduce loss of carbon.  This factor alone will lead to improved soil biodiversity, and will protect the air and water within the soil  -encouraging better crop establishment leading to lower input costs and higher yields.

Another key factor is having sufficient Calcium within your soils which holds the soil open to let water percolate more freely.

Magnesium also plays a critical structural role as it tends to disperse clay colloids when wet causing the soil to slump and become sticky.

So don’t ignore the value of these important often overlooked elements and consider their addition by applying all-round fertilisers such as Fibrophos and P-Grow when sourcing your phosphate and potash this year.

Contact your local distributor to keep your soils in good shape.

The combination of high P&K prices and annual declines in residual soil phosphates are potentially creating a perfect storm for maize growers.

Traditionally, many maize growers have relied on large volumes of slurries and other organic manures but increasing environmental concerns make these inputs more tricky to manage.

It’s possible with continued soil nutrient declines and inadequate P&K supplied from manures that there may be insufficient to optimise establishment and deliver healthy, high yielding crops.

Soil sampling is critical to establish if your soils are at risk.

Any shortfalls in phosphate or potash can be simply rectified by adequate applications of an all-round fertiliser such as Fibrophos or P-Grow – while at the same time ensuring that your micronutrients such as magnesium, calcium and zinc are in balance.

Contact your local distributor to keep your soils in tip-top shape.

Are you achieving the perfect balance of nutrients for your sugar beet?

“UK sugar beet growers need more than ever to focus on their costs of production.” says Nik Johnson of JSE Systems in Lincolnshire.  “Of course every grower will want to maximise yield as cost effectively as possible but this will mean achieving optimal soil nutrients so that crop health, yield and sugar content are at their highest level”.

Sugar beet needs the ‘top four’ – P, K, Mg and Na – to supplement the nitrogen, but trace elements play a big role – particularly boron.

Lincolnshire grower Richard Nelstrop has used Fibrophos for over 10 years and says “Fibrophos has performed well for us. It’s really cost effective and includes all the additional nutrients that you just don’t get in standard bagged product”

Fibrophos is unlike traditional straight fertilisers because it contains a full range of secondary and trace and micro elements. Richard Blew who distributes throughout East Anglia says that his farmers really value these additional soil nutrients. “After the P&K,  they put a lot of value on the sodium, magnesium, manganese and of course the boron that’s present in Fibrophos. They see the boron helping to prevent Crown Rot and the calcium helps to buffer the pH of the soil so it’s a terrific all-round product”

Trials conducted by Levington Agriculture back in 1998 still hold true for the impact of Fibrophos. The results show the fertiliser to be effective in promoting sugar beet growth – the crop showed good leaf colour and vigour (greater than the plots treated with TSP and MOP) and the Fibrophos application increased root sugar content. 

Geoff Mayhew in Suffolk grows 200 acres of sugar beet and has been applying Fibrophos for the last 12 years “We have used the fertiliser prior to beet and potatoes and on any land which might come into a third white straw. I have found nutrient availability excellent and crop growth vigorous. The trace element content of Fibrophos certainly gives us the boost on our light sandy loam soils  Sugar beet costings remain under close scrutiny and Fibrophos will still remain a vital component of my sugar beet growing strategy”

Fibrophos PK Fertiliser is available throughout the sugar beet areas of the UK from local distributors.

Earlier this month, the PDA released an article on the implications of baling straw. They have highlighted that there are many good commercial and agronomic reasons to bale and remove straw from the farm when it is not needed for other on-farm enterprises.

However, they point out that by doing so it often ignores the costs of replacement nutrients removed with the straw. It is essential to maintain good levels of P & K across the farm to maximise yield potential as by allowing PK indices to drop it can take several years to rectify.

Fibrophos PK fertilisers are ‘just the ticket’ for replacing lost nutrients in a cost-effective way. Unlike traditional straight fertilisers, Fibrophos contains not just all the P & K you might need but also contains a full range of secondary, trace and micro elements.

Richard Blew who distributes Fibrophos throughout East Anglia says that his farmers really value these additional soil nutrients. “After the P&K, they put a lot of value on the likes of sulphur and magnesium – not forgetting selenium which is important grain constituent for human health – so it’s a terrific all-round product”

Whatever the reasoning for the decision, where straw is removed it is really important to replace the potash  – winter cereal straw removes nearly double that of the grain per hectare. This can be worse in dry years and or in high yielding years such as this one.

In trials, Fibrophos was found to release nutrients in a balanced way which over time leads to a better distribution of nutrients across the rooting profile. Furthermore, with the potash in Fibrophos being in complex forms rather than predominantly as a chloride, as in most other fertilisers, it is kinder on those susceptible crops.

Fibrophos PK Fertiliser is available across the UK and can be accurately applied using a network of professional local spreading contractors.