Suspension fertiliser ‘boosts sugar beet yields’

Switching to a bespoke suspension sugar beet fertiliser helped a Norfolk grower boost average adjusted yields of early lifted crop this season to 92t/ha with 20.87% sugar.

John Harvey of Hill Farm, Yaxham, has been growing sugar beet for nearly 25 years. Although methods behind growing the crop have hardly changed during that time, in recent years his average yields have been on a steady upwards trend.

Yet the only major change to the sugar beet enterprise that can be directly attributed to this latest performance boost is a switch from broadcasting bulk blends to applying bespoke Omex suspensions, says Mr Harvey.

The 240ha (600 acre) arable enterprise comprises sandy loam soils that support combinable crops including cereals and oilseed rape. The farm grows 18ha (45 acres) of sugar beet, with a further 450t of quota secured for next year.

Mr Harvey’s average adjusted yield over the last four years has been nearly 84t/ha, with 2005 producing the highest recorded on the farm that topped 100t/ha. If all his sugar beet was left in the ground until the end of November, he says he would consistently hit the 100t/ha mark.

Applying either cattle or pig manure to the sugar beet crop has helped to push yields up, but it has also diluted sugar percentage. As a result nitrogen inputs have been cut by 50%. Chemspec agronomist Roger Bassham carries out the nutritional analysis of the organic muck, while the soils are tested through Omex’s laboratory.

“Using organic manure on farm is a long term strategy,” says Mr Bassham. “Organic manures are acidic which can be a problem because sugar beet doesn’t like acidic soils. Potassium and magnesium levels are average on this farm, but the phosphate index is up to five in some fields.

“We used to use a blended fertiliser product that was broadcast onto the land, but you just can’t get the accuracy. We found ourselves spreading a lot of fertiliser into the hedgerows and roadways, which is totally unacceptable from an environmental perspective and from a gross margin point of view.

Accuracy

“Omex suspensions suit our system perfectly in that the nutrients can be applied right up to the field boundary and every inch of land is covered with the same nutritional analysis. Unlike granular fertilisers you can also see exactly where the suspension fertiliser has been placed.”

With fertiliser prices at an unprecedented high last year the savings made by using suspensions were considerable, he says. Suspension fertiliser is also purchased on a sale or return basis so there is nothing left on farm at the end and only what is applied to the crop is paid for.

There is also no storage requirement with suspensions either and there is no waste packaging.

“Relinquishing the responsibility of applying the suspension fertiliser to a dedicated Omex contractor is a big advantage too, because we are always under labour pressure during the busy autumn period. Our local contractor Nick Smith uses up-to-date GPS mapping systems, which has helped us to even out yields across the fields.”

Mr Harvey admits that switching from granular to liquid fertiliser was a bit of a culture shock to begin with having been used to doing all the fertiliser application in-house, but the results from the current system speak for themselves.

“All I do now is liaise with my agronomist who in turn discusses my requirements with the local Omex district sales manager Steve Mackinder. “It means I can get on with managing the day-to-day activities on the farm. Although we have to pay for the fertiliser to be applied it only costs between £12.40-15.70/ha depending on rate, which I know we couldn’t do at the same price ourselves.”

Weather

Depending on the weather Mr Harvey aims to apply his Omex fertiliser to the stubbles of the previous cereal crop in the autumn. “On this farm it is better to go on in the autumn because the soils here are coarse sandy loams and if it rains field travelling is difficult,” he says.

Bespoke Omex sugar beet suspension for Hill Farm is applied at 1,200kg/ha depending on rate, based on100-125kg/ha of potassium, 75/kg/ha of magnesium, 240kg/ha of sodium and 1kg/ha of boron. A high phosphate index means none is included in the mix.

“We continue to recommend putting on higher than average levels of sodium because we feel the potential yield gains far outweigh the small increase in material cost,” says Mr Mackinder. “I don’t want to see the crop being limited by cutting the sodium levels back from 240 to 200kg/ha for a cost saving of roughly £8/ha compared to a loss of 2-3t/ha, equivalent to £60/ha.”

Mr Harvey drills his sugar beet using a drill and power harrow combination in early March. At the 3-5 leaf growth stage applying foliar nutrients is considered depending on how the crop looks. In addition to this he will make three agrochemical passes based on a pre-emergence spray to control bindweed, knotgrass, poppy and mayweed, followed by two post-emergence applications as required.