With the implementation of nitrogen rules for grazed pasture edging closer, one of the most important things a dairy farmer can do to comply is keep reliable records for all solid and liquid mineral N fertiliser applications on your properties. Starting this record-keeping will also be beneficial when creating a Farm Environment Plan – which most farmers may be expected to have in place by 2025.

Can you meet the limits?

The maximum allowance is 190 kg N/ha/year for grazed pastoral only areas (excluding any forage crops), and averaged over the total grazing area (including any forage crops). If you believe you will not be able to meet these limitations, you will be required to obtain resource consent from your regional council for the 2021 – 2022 reporting year (starting the 1^st July).

Make record-keeping a habit.

Farm owners will be responsible for providing accurate records to their regional council for purchase and application information for any N based fertiliser. While your fertiliser supplier can provide the year-end statement of purchase records, the easiest way to collect spreading or application information is to have proof of placement as provided by a GPS controlled spreading vehicle. If you do not have a GPS controller for spreading, there are software packages or apps available to manually record this information for you. The one Ravensdown provides is HawkEye.

HawkEye will automatically receive and process Ravensdown Joint Venture spreaders, C-Dax GPS and TracMap captured application data for those who have been integrated. This captured data will provide all the nutrient information required for reporting via HawkEye created reports in a likely suitable format for regional councils. While GPS controllers outside of those just mentioned are not currently supported for automation in HawkEye, this functionality is being evaluated for the future. Remember however that you can also manually add that information into HawkEye.

Ready for compliance.

Using the ordering tools for your Ravensdown fertiliser purchases and spreading from controllers supported by HawkEye makes reconciling applications and reporting progress against your goals easier – and we look forward to increasing the utility of reports and apps soon.

Interested in learning about how HawkEye can assist in your farm decision making and record-keeping? We’re here to help. HawkEye has a team of experts, including your Ravensdown agri manager, to get you started on your nutrient management journey.

Visit www.hawkeye.farm or call the support team on 0800 73 73 73.