Following on from last week’s OviCast, Michael Gottstein joins Ciarán Lynch on the latest episode to discuss planning a fertiliser budget for your farm this year.

Michael starts by discussing the challenge that increased fertiliser prices pose on farms and why it’s important to take action now.

He explains why it’s important to look at your overall fertiliser spend on farm now and take into account what merchant credit and alternative credit is available to avoid the situation of unforeseen debt later in the year.

Michael outlines a practical example of a fertiliser budget that he completed for a farmer this spring. He details how the farmer will incur an increase in spend but, through product substitution and a slight reduction in application rate, it will still allow the farmer to spread 80% of the nitrogen he used last year with the budget available.

Michael discusses the option for some farms to reduce stocking rate by selling unproductive stock and why it’s a year to focus on the basics of grassland management and correcting soil pH.

Finally, Michael encourages farmers to complete a fertiliser budget and seek assistance from advisors in completing this task where necessary.

For more information:

https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2022/virtual-sheep-conference-2022.php

For more episodes from the OviCast podcast, visit the show page at:

https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/ovicast-sheep-podcast