AgriSearch commissioned review of Nutrient Management Planning Tools published​​​​​​​

The objectives of the review were to conduct a comprehensive review of existing NMPTs for grassland and forage crops available for use in the UK or Ireland and provide recommendations for future provision of NMPTs in Northern Ireland.

Nutrient management planning is fundamental to economic and environmentally sustainable farming systems by helping farmers match inputs of nutrients to crop demand whilst simultaneously minimising production costs and losses to the environment. The Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS) which got under way last year and will provide vital soil data to farmers, however, to maximise its value it must be used to inform manure and fertiliser management on farm.

In addition to the available CAFRE nutrient calculators an additional three were reviewed from the UK and Ireland as well as others from countries with similar climates and farming systems. These included the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and New Zealand.

The CAFRE nutrient calculators are the recommended ‘industry standard’ NMPTs to use in Northern Ireland and have an established user-base and support system.

ADAS reported that they are web-based, but dated, having not been updated since they were developed (apart from regular updates to the underlying recommendations in line with relevant RB209 updates). Overall the CAFRE NMPTs are dated and cumbersome to navigate, furthermore they are mainly desk-based and not suited for on-the-go use which could contribute to low uptake.

ADAS recommended that the CAFRE calculators continue to be the standard recommended tools for use in NI, however a range of possible improvements were highlighted to bring the calculators to a higher standard. These recommendations included more accurate accounting of nutrients in organic matter, inclusion of farmgate nutrient balance, stream-line data entry and in general making the calculators more user-friendly. The full report including conclusions and recommendations can be downloaded from the AgriSearch website.