Fertiliser challenges not as bad as the 1980s
July 20th, 2009
Farmers are clearly struggling to afford the fertiliser tonnages they need to optimise production, but the situation is not as bad as when subsidies were removed in 1984. Head of Agro-Sciences at Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Warwick Catto says the key difference between the1980s and today is farmers can still afford to budget for fertiliser expenditure, even if it is down. “This is a far cry from the situation in the mid-1980s when the money was simply not there and farmers had to reduce personal drawings from the farm significantly.”
Most farmers are financially better off today because of the very good historic fertiliser use they have applied for the past 10 years. “For example, almost 99% of Fonterra farmers now have a nutrient budget in place.” However, the new pricing plateau means farm systems and rates of use will change, with dairy farmers reducing Olsen P to lower levels and adjusting fertiliser maintenance rates accordingly.
Catto says farmers have learned the lesson from the 1980s, when production suffered for several years because insufficient fertiliser was applied, and most are still strongly focused on maintaining productivity and minimising any production loss risk. “We saw a significant drop in fertiliser sales for application this autumn, and this may be repeated this spring.” He suggests farmers struggling with funding a spring application might well focus on sulphur and potassium, as these nutrients will impact on production first, relative to phosphate.
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