We successfully completed our SFF project “On-farm Fertiliser Spreader Calibration” and launched the online tool, www.fertspread.nz earlier this year.
Some key messages:
- Our testing found wide performance variation
- Most new machines do a good job if set up correctly
- Caution is essential spreading blended fertilisers or when bout widths exceed 30 m
- Visible striping indicates > 40% application variability and at least a 20% yield penalty.
- Fertiliser ballistics play a critical role
We ran a number of workshops from Waikato to Ashburton reaching a wide range of farmers and industry people. Information, training handouts and how-to YouTube video clips are on the LandWISE website. See www.fertspread.nz for the on-line calculator and field recording sheets.
We are grateful for strong support from Miles Grafton and Ian Yule at Massey University.
This project was co-funded by the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR), the Fertiliser Association (FertResearch) and MPI Sustainable Farming Fund.
More at