The importance of farm nutrient management planning to Northern Ireland agriculture has been highlighted in two new videos released by AFBI through the Interreg VA Catchment Care project.

The project highlights the significant benefits for farmers of participating in the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS) and describe how AFBI worked with local farmers in the Blackwater catchment, developing farm nutrient management plans that helped optimise yields, while minimising nutrient losses to the environment.

AFBI collected detailed information on nutrient inputs, utilisation, outputs and soil nutrient concentrations from farms within the Blackwater catchment. This information was used to develop farm nutrient balances, along with soil nutrient and soil pH maps and feedback from farmers who participated in the CatchmentCARE project was very positive.

Farmers in Northern Ireland reported that the colour-coded map format were easy to interpret and beneficial for understanding their fertiliser requirements. Around two-thirds of farms within the study were advised to apply lime to their fields, resulting in 64% of these farms now at optimum soil pH for grassland management.

The AFBI lead scientist on the project, Dr Suzanne Higgins, commented: “The findings have highlighted the significant agronomic and environmental benefits that can be achieved through good nutrient management and I would encourage farmers to participate in the SNHS so that they get the information that will help them achieve these benefits on their own farms.”

Soil Analysis

An indication of soil nutrient status can be obtained by collecting soil samples from fields every 4-5 years and analysing for the main plant nutrients phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and sulphur (S), along with soil pH.

AFBI research has shown that grass yields can be improved by as much as 2 t dry matter per hectare if nutrients or soil pH are optimal. Balancing production with the environment is key to the sustainability of agriculture in NI.

The Northern Ireland (NI) Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS) intends to soil sample approximately 650,000 fields over the next four years and will provide the farmers of NI with:

  • detailed information on the nutrient status of their soils
  • runoff risk maps for nutrient loss to waterbodies for each field sampled
  • estimates of carbon stored in their soils and as above ground biomass for each farm
  • training on the interpretation of soil nutrient reports and generation of farm nutrient plans (provided by CAFRE).