What are the options if the fertiliser delivered isn’t up to scratch?

Trying to spread poor-quality fertiliser is nearly impossible to fix, even with adjustments to your machine. That’s why it’s so important to check the quality of what’s delivered as soon as possible, and certainly before you start spreading.

If fertiliser physical quality is suspect and you are working on grassland, reducing your bout width can help. Consider halving the bout width if necessary, but make sure you adjust the application rate accordingly.

If the fertiliser is found to be poor quality, you should go back to the merchant and ask them to replace it with a better-quality product. If you have had the fertiliser stored on-farm for months before notifying the merchant then they are going to be much slower to agree to this.

It might be a good idea if you had poor-quality product last season to ask for a number of smaller deliveries throughout the year rather than one large delivery at the start of the season.

Buying through groups

Farmers also need to be cautious when buying through groups. If price is the only thing the group considers when choosing a product, the quality is likely to suffer. Importers will be tempted to buy cheaper product to try to compete on price. Spending an extra €20/t on a good-quality fertiliser can save you far more in the long run, as it’ll spread evenly and give you less hassle in the field.

The above was adapted for use on Teagasc Daily from the piece titled: ‘Getting set for protected urea’ by Dermot Forristal, Teagasc Research Officer, and Francis Quigley, Farm Machinery Specialist and published in a recent issue of Today’s Farm.

Read the full ‘Getting set for protected urea’ article here.