Applying fertilisers containing nitrogen and sulphur means the grass uses nitrogen more effectively, you get more kgs of dry matter per kg of nitrogen that you apply
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There has been a great deal of interest over the last three years in foliar applied nitrogen (N) on grassland. To learn more about the performance of foliar N on grass, Yara UK began a replicated plot trial in 2023 which will run for three years.
The trial is modelled on a 4-cut silage system, with the first cut taking place in early May, with subsequent cuts taken every 5 weeks approximately.
The total season N rate per ha for the 5 treatments (trt) is as follows: trt 1 - 0 kg, trt 2 - 340 kg (100% soil applied), trt 3 - 203 kg (86% soil applied, 14% as a slow-release foliar N product), trt 4 - 203 kg (100% soil applied), trt 5 - 203 kg (28% soil applied, 72% as a foliar urea product + humic acid). The total N application rate for trt’s 3, 4 and 5 is 40% lower than trt 2.
The foliar N is applied 10 – 12 days after the previous cut to ensure there was enough leaf surface to intercept the foliar products.
2024 results - The total dry matter (DM) yield per ha for each trt was 4,490 kg, 12,371 kg, 10,285 kg, 10,536 kg and 8,985 kg for trt 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The N response for trt 2 and 5 was 23 and 22 kg/DM per kg of applied N, while trt 3 and 4 had a N response of 29 and 30 kg/DM per kg of applied N respectively.
More information on this research can be found on our website.
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