The fertiliser price is falling for products delivered to Scottish farms, with merchants now quoting well under £500/t for a 34.5% nitrogen product.

Tumbling gas prices has allowed the industry to knock hundreds of pounds off the price of fertiliser since the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. Whilst many arable growers will have already secured supply for planting this spring, a lot of livestock farmers will be welcoming the news as they look to maximise grass growth.

SAC consulting agronomist, Peter Lindsay, is recommending farmers use the softening market to ensure they have the right level of inputs to feed the crop. He said: “The majority of cereal growers will have bought their fertiliser early so they won’t be taking advantage of the falling prices.

"However, many of them will have bought before the price spike last spring, too, so it may balance out. Meanwhile, those who bought late last year and were caught by the high prices could see cheaper fertiliser if they repeat the tactic this year.”

Despite the cheapening cost of fertiliser, Mr Lindsay believed that many farmers will look to replace any diminished stocks of phosphates and potash in the soil over a number of years, as opposed to heavily apply them this year.

But, he recommended soil sampling, particularly if fields had a ‘P and K holiday’ last year so the amount of replacement can be carefully assessed. If shortages become apparent in the plants, then it will be an uphill struggle to prevent a significant fall in yield.

Meanwhile, increasing numbers of farmers are switching to urea which has been offering better value per unit of N. Mr Lindsay said: “There is more urea products on farm. Many were pushed to purchase as it was all that was available in 2022.

"Even with weakening prices for ammonium nitrate, urea can be value for farmers. It is not a new product and many farmers have used to for years. But anyone new to urea needs to ensure they are more accurate when spreading and set up their machine correctly. It could also be worth tray testing spreaders.”

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One farmer getting ready to spread urea already is Stranraer dairy farmer, Gary Mitchell, who has been operating a zero graze system for the cows at West Galdenoch farm for the last three weeks.

He will be applying 35 units of N per acre and plans to crop the grass in three weeks' times. He said that, after buying four loads of urea last year, the change has not been too much hassle but he still preferred straight N and at current prices around £465/t he will be switching back.