Free nutrient planning kit that could save you cash

With input prices ever on the
rise and the constant pressure to produce cost effective food whilst protecting the environment, farmers are always looking for ways to save a buck. Defra’s updated Fertiliser Manual and PLANET 3 could be a great place to start.

The Fertiliser Manual (RB209) and PLANET 3 are two important tools that help farmers make the right decisions with their nutrients. Good nutrient management can help minimise impacts on the environment, help maintain and improve crop yield but also save farmers and land managers money.

Now, we know that lots of you are doing this already as overall application rates on all crops and grass for nitrogen, phosphate and potash, in Great Britain have declined over the last five years. But there’s still a way to go.

Only 51% of farmers surveyed (in the 2008 Farm Practices Survey) have a Nutrient Management Plan. The majority (73%) of these are cereal farmers: only 18% were livestock farmers grazing in a Less Favoured Area.

PLANET 3 is an easy and quick computerised version of the Fertiliser Manual. It produces reports and advice to help farmers with their nutrient planning and has a number of calculation modules to help farmers show compliance with the NVZ rules.

Just over half of farmer use a recognised system like PLANET or Tried and Tested to create their Management Plan. 88% said that they used RB209 as source of nutrient recommendations.

PLANET 3 can be used in England, Wales and Scotland. It’s available free of charge on DVD and as a download from the internet. There are over 8000 registered users of the current version of PLANET (version 2). Why don’t you join them and see what you could save?

To download a copy of the new Fertiliser Manual (RB209) for free from the Defra site, go to www.defra.gov.uk/rb209

For full details see our news item on the subject.

PLANET is freely available on DVD by going to www.planet4farmers.co.uk or ringing the helpline on 08456 023864.