Arable crops

10th Dec

Spring phosphate (P) can be more efficiently utilised than most autumn applications due to soil temperatures, crop demand and a larger root system.

When thinking of the first application it is important to factor in how the crop has performed over winter and what weather conditions it faced. Waterlogging of roots can have a substantial impact on their survival, particularly the secondary, finer ones, after the waterlogging has ceased.

With this in mind phosphate (P) in spring becomes even more important. From research of how P behaves in the soil, it doesn’t become significantly plant-available until soils reach a temperature of 8°C or above. If we think of soils in mid-February they’re not likely to have reached this temperature, therefore we are feeding the crops with nitrogen and encouraging growth without them being able to access P from the soil. Couple this with a potentially poor root system (caused by sitting in water or later drilled crops) and the crop can soon begin to struggle.

The way to combat this is to apply some fresh P in the spring, even if it is a small amount such as 35kg/ha, to give the crop an available source of P whilst it’s waiting for soils to warm up, where it will then be able to access soil-P.

For a simple and effective approach, using a compound NPKS such as YaraMila 52S at the first nitrogen timing in the spring will give the crop the 4 key nutrients it requires at the start of its regrowth and set it up for increasing its biomass successfully.