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FERTILIZER USE SURVEY 2001-2003 by B. Coulter, W. Murphy, N. Culleton, G. Quinlan and L.Connolly

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The Data Source Teagasc National Farm Survey Data for 2001-2003 More than 1200 farms surveyed each year Survey farms were randomly selected to represent the major farm systems and sizes using information from the CSO Census of Agriculture Detailed information about fertilizer usage for each crop on the farm

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Crop Included Grassland Crops: Grazing, Silage Hay Tillage Crops: Winter and spring wheat Winter, spring and malting barley Winter and spring oats Potatoes Sugar beet and fodder beet Other crops e.g. maize, turnips, kale etc.

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Fertilizer Information For Each Crop: Area of the crop Number of 50 kg bags used in each application Type of fertilizer used (91 different compounds) Up to 11 applications for grass; up to 6 applications for tillage crops

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Main Farm Variables 1. Farm enterprise 2. Farm size 3. Stocking rate 4. Soil suitability class 5. Geographic region

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Farm Enterprise Dairying Drystock farming Sheep farming Tillage

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Soil Use Class Farms classified according to their location on General Soil Map (Gardiner and Radford, 1982) Four groups depending on the range of soil use capability Soil use class 1 can grow the widest range of crops without limitation Soil use class 4 contains farms with limited to extremely limited use range.

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Representation Number of Irish farms represented by one survey farm* System Farm Size (ha) 2 2020 - 50> 50 Dairy1966741 Cattle21810369 Sheep38311776 Tillage2418235 * 1210 farms in the survey represent 114,000 Irish farms

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Validation Comparison: National annual sales (tonnes/yr) of N, P and K with calculated usage based on the survey NPK National Sales (tonnes/yr) 388,10043,800111,100 Calculated usage (tonnes/yr) 383,00044,700111,300

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Regional N, P and K application rates for grazing (kg/ha) REGIONNPKAreaFarms South-East120*92136189 Dublin663638.910 Mid-East9261347.5119 Midlands9281936.3122 Border8471428.8218 South-West7881730.6141 South167112532.4251 West5571524.6190 Overall 10481832.81240 * S.E. 5.8 S.E. 26.1

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N and P application rates for grazing (kg/ha)

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Duration of Grazing Season

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Effect of soil use class on N, P, K for grazing ClassSOIL UseNPK 1Wide137920 2Moderately Wide98716 3 Somewhat Limited 79716 4Limited85818

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Dairy fertilizer application for grazing at different stocking rates (kg/ha) STOCKING RATENPKFarms < 1.27761637 1.2 - 1.5100102358 1.5 - 1.9134921153 2.0 - 2.251771126140 2.25 - 2.6216132688 2.6 - 2.9258122931 > 2.9229152615

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Surveyed N usage and Teagasc N advice for grazed grassland (kg/ha) STOCKING RATE Surveyed N Usage Teagasc N Advice < 1.27745 1.2 - 1.510060 1.8134100 2.1177160 2.4216225 2.7258300 3229390

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P and K usage and Teagasc P & K advice for grazing on dairy farms STOCKING RATE (LU/ha) P Usage (kg/ha) P Advice (kg/ha) K Usage (kg/ha) K Advice (kg/ha) < 1.2 661623 1.2 - 1.5 1092325 1.8 9102127 2.1 11122629 2.4 13152631 2.812142933 315212635

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Silage Nutrient usage of N, P and K was 120, 13 and 41 kg/ha respectively. N use was 13% below Teagasc advice for crops with full use of slurry P and K use were between advised rates for silage using (a) no-slurry and (b) slurry Usage declined by 11, 15 and 20% from usage in 2000.

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N and K application rates for silage (kg/ha)

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Fertilizer Compounds for Grazing COMPOUND NPK No of Times Used Percentage of Each Element CAN37--311 UREA16--87 0:7:30-4718 10:10:201141288 18:06:1252321221 High N Compounds*384849357 * Typical composition 23:2.5:5

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Fertilizer Compounds for Silage COMPOUND NPK No of Times Used Percentage of Each Element CAN21--370 UREA12--114 0:7:30-1521110 18:06:1272013232 High N Compounds*585558819 * Typical composition 23:2.5:5

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High N Compounds: Comparison with 2000 For grazing, use of high N compounds for N, P and K increased by 12-14% since 2000 For silage, the increase was 16-18%. A similar trend was found between 1995 and 2000. This little and often approach is environmentally friendly for P

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Grassland N Usage Since 1995

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Grassland P & K Usage Since 1995

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Winter Barley Grown only in SE, ME and border regions (32 farms) Mean N usage was 167 kg/ha Calculated Teagasc advice is ~ 156 kg/ha Mean P and K usage were 30 and 71 kg/ha P & K match Teagasc advice N usage for increased by 8% since 2000 compared to a 5% drop in national N sales

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Spring Barley Grown in all regions (184 farms) Mean N usage was 123 kg/ha Calculated Teagasc advice is ~ 118 kg/ha Mean P and K usage were 26 and 55 kg/ha P & K match Teagasc advice N & K usage increased by 7-8% since 2000 compared to a 5-9% drop in national N sales

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Winter Wheat Grown only in 4 regions (48 farms) Mean N usage was 203 kg/ha Calculated Teagasc advice is ~ 172 kg/ha Mean P and K usage were 23 and 55 kg/ha P matches Teagasc advice but K is lower N, P & K usage decreased by 2%, 17% and 31% since 2000

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Spring Wheat Grown only in 6 regions (52 farms) Mean N usage was 152 kg/ha Calculated Teagasc advice is 112-148 kg/ha depending on expected yield Mean P and K usage were 24 and 53 kg/ha P & K use consistent with Teagasc advice N usage decreased by 5% since 2000 but P and K increased by 33 and 26%

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Compounds for Cereals N mainly supplied by CAN (some 10:10:20) P & K mainly supplied by 18:6:12 and 10:10:20 for winter and spring barley, winter and spring wheat

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Sugar Beet Grown only in 4 regions (67 farms) Mean N usage was 159 kg/ha Teagasc advice is 100-200 kg/ha depending on summer rainfall and years in ley prior to tillage Mean P and K usage were 24 and 157 kg/ha Teagasc P & K advice is 39 and 170 kg/ha N, P and K usage decreased by 1%, 14% and 5% since 2000

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Mean Fertilizer Nutrient Use for Cereal Crops from 1995-2003 CEREALS NPK Mean Farm Area (ha) No of Farms (kg/ha) 1995137266918262 1999127255623210 2000160256028214 2001147245327240 2002157255628255 2003152255630247

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Mean Fertilizer Nutrient Use for Root Crops from 1995-2003 ROOT CROPS NPK Mean Farm Area (ha) No of Farms (kg/ha) 1995161761995211 1999154621907126 2000146701878112 2001151742089120 2002142571699123 2003139581689117

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Compounds for Roots Compound used depending on crop S/A used only on potatoes No straight P or K used Very wide variety of compounds used