I recently joined Bureau Mestafzet and De Boer Op Advies on a so-called "Manure Mission" to Germany. This fertilizer mission was intended to get a better picture of the wishes of our most important customer for exported fertilizers.
One of the things that has struck me is that some German farmers are working very carefully on precision fertilization and optimizing it. We, the Dutch, can certainly learn something from that. We can also be inspired by it.
Advanced techniques
The large German arable farmers in particular are serious about this, because a small saving per hectare can quickly turn into a large saving at farm level. During the growing season, they adjust the nitrogen fertilization to the amount of crop using a chlorophyll sensor. They apply the fertilizer they use with a sophisticated, expensive pneumatic spreader or sprayer. In this way they want to reduce the variation from about 15 percent to less than 1,5 percent. A significant difference!
Fertilizing site-specific
Some farmers also still use soil samples in the various soil layers. They collect all this data and, based on the results, they fertilize site-specifically with chicken manure or with other types of manure. This is an opportunity for Dutch companies to supply homogeneous quality fertilizer.
In places with a poorer soil type, they sow fewer plants and also fertilize less. The advantage of this is that more can be fertilized in the right places and fewer minerals remain unused. At the end of the season they also measure the grain yield per location. Based on the results, they make choices for the next season and an equal or better yield is achieved with less (artificial) fertilizer.
Keep working on improvement
It is clear that precision fertilization offers many advantages. During our meetings this spring, we made it clear that it can help dairy farmers to reduce the phosphate supply on farms if the roughage is of the right quality and composition. For arable farmers, it also provides (qualitatively) better harvests.
And, last but not least, it is also better for the soil and the quality of the groundwater. In many German regions, work on water quality is now high on the agenda. This is due to the measurement of excessively high nitrate levels in the groundwater. As far as I'm concerned, we are inspired by the German approach and we combine it with our knowledge of precision fertilization.
German arable farmer explains the method, including precision fertilization.
Photo: Lieke Boekhorst (De Boer on Advice)
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