On the face of it, prices may make applying nitrogen to a drystock farm this spring cost prohibitive. However, when considered as an investment rather than a cost, farmers are likely to reach a different conclusion.

Yes: under present pricing, fertiliser is expensive. However, our browntop pastures on hill country sheep and beef farms can be highly responsive to nitrogen.

Our recommendation to clients is to do your homework: be prepared and be proactive. We’re here to help.

Evaluating your investment

Ravensdown agri managers are equipped with nitrogen calculators, and enjoy using them. Using a series of inputs including the cost of fertiliser, the response rate of your paddock, and the conversion of dry matter to live weight, alongside realistic projections on schedule pricing, these useful tools will provide an accurate estimate of the co-relation between nitrogen application, pasture growth, consequential lamb weights and therefore what profit you might achieve. This measures your return on investment from nitrogen application, an estimate to help guide decisions on when, where and how much fertiliser to apply.

Nitrogen is an investment to maximise your return at the other end of the season: is it worth it, or is there another solution to fill a feed deficit? How does the cost of nitrogen compare to buying in silage, for example?

Additional benefits

Aside from boosting carcass weight, less direct benefits from spring nitrogen application include better ewe condition, therefore less lamb deaths; better bonding between lamb and ewe as she is not foraging as far and wide; increased milk production to grow lambs quicker and therefore finish them sooner; and improved fertility for next year due to ewes in better condition. These factors are also worth taking into account, alongside this season’s likely production.

For nitrogen to respond takes time, which makes a forward plan essential. Application should be based on maximising pasture growth relative to lambing dates. If you are looking at pre-lamb application, you need to give those paddocks time to establish before sending stock in. Therefore, in the upper North Island early August is the best time to put on nitrogen, while for those lambing progressively later going south through the country, a later application is optimal, taking account of demand for spreaders and planes.

On sedimentary and pumice soils, putting sulphur into the system early will also help drive that nitrogen response.

Cost effective solution

No doubt nitrogen is expensive at the moment: not something that any of us likes. However, if you take a second look to do some analysis on your farm’s particular situation, you may find that application is still the most cost effective way to give your stock that extra feed boost when they need it most. Look at the numbers and bear in mind the strong returns the current schedules indicate. At $9 plus per kilo, the direct returns this season are encouraging, and when taking ewe condition and other longer-term factors into account, the arguments for spring nitrogen application are strong.

Other factors worth considering include using N-Protect rather than urea. Although N-Protect comes with a price premium, its value is the lower application rate required to ensure the same amount of nitrogen reaches the plant, which can make it a better overall option. That aside, environmental benefits reinforce the case for N-Protect.

Also, this is a good time to plan further ahead for maintenance fertiliser, and an opportunity to set fertiliser budgets for the season, run the numbers, and understand your soil fertility. This year, with the higher cost of inputs as well as higher returns, it is more important than ever to have sound information on which to base the best possible decisions.

Like to know more about running the numbers on your farm?
Call our Customer Centre on 0800 100 123