Archive Article: 2001/03/02
How much soil nitrogen is left in soils? After so much winter rain probably not a lot. But ADAS urges growers to consider how much excess winter rainfall (EWR) land has had as well as prior nutrient policy and cropping to add precision to their calculations. Fig 1 shows the long-term average EWR and fig 2 EWR this season. In a normal year large parts of eastern England would fall into the "low" rainfall category of less than 150mm of excess rain. But not this year. Using this years zoning information growers can select the correct tables in MAFFs RB209 Fertiliser recommendation book to find the relevant soil nitrogen supply index for individual fields. Updated EWR and soil mineral N levels will be given ahead of main top dressing. Results of soil N testing by Terra Nitrogen on 18 sites suggest reserves are typically 30% lower than last year.