Ten year study...
Farmer: Murray Brown, Aylesbury and Brackley
Crops Grown: Milling Wheat
Variety: Hereward, Solstice, Gallant and Crusoe
Soil Type: Heavy Clay
Yield Gain: Yields up to 11.2/ha
Fertiliser Used: Nitram® and DoubleTop®
Fertiliser Saving: Up to 50kg/ha
CF N-Min offers long term, sustainable performance improvement.
"The consistency of results we have achieved with N-Min over the last nine years has been nothing short of incredible. We've hit milling specs every year, pushed yields above 11t/ha in some and, on average, achieved this through using less fertiliser than standard industry recommendations. Getting more out of putting less in makes complete financial and environmental sense."
Murray Brown
By knowing the Nitrogen content of his soils, Murray Brown has optimised the amount of Nitram applied to his crops over seven years. This precisely tailored Nitrogen management has paid off:
- On average, 0.55 less Nitrogen has been applied compared to the Fertiliser Manual
- N-Min recommended rates achieved average wheat yields 9% above the Eastern region Defra recorded performance over the period
- Target protein levels for milling specifications have been achieved every year – nationally, almost 50% of samples for these varieties in the year grown failed to achieve 13% protein. (HGCA wheat quality survey)
| Year | Fertiliser kg N/ha recommended using N-Min & N-Calc | Standard industry recommendation kg N/ha | Yield t/ha | Protein % | Variety | Milling achieved | N Difference vs. standard industry kg N/ha |
| 2007 | 196 | 230 | 10.5 | 13 | Hereward | Yes | -34 |
| 2008 | 223 | 230 | 8 | 13 | Hereward | Yes | -7 |
| 2009 | 181 | 230 | 7.4 | 14 | Hereward | Yes | -49 |
| 2010 | 237 | 230 | 8.8 | 13 | Hereward | Yes | 7 |
| 2011 | 246 | 230 | 9.2 | 13 | Solstice | Yes | 16 |
| 2012 | 228 | 230 | 6 | 14.5 | Solstice | Yes | -2 |
| 2013 | Not | Grown | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2014 | 276 | 260 | 11.2 | 12.75 | Gallant | Yes | 16 |
| 2015 | 294 | 280 | 10.5 | 13.5 | Gallant | Yes | 14 |
| 2016 | 250 | 280 | 7.5 | 13.0 | Crusoe | Yes | 30 |
|
Mean Result |
237 | 244 | 8.8 | 13.3 | N/A | Yes | -7.6 |
"Nutrient Use Efficiency" is what every farmer is seeking – get more out, for the same or less input and in this seven year case study that is just what has been achieved using the N-Min service.
Soil Nitrogen Supply (SNS) has varied from 70 -150kg N/ha even though the wheat always followed oilseed rape. The Nitram application could then be confidently adjusted to match soil supply and still produce above average performance in yield and protein level.
In 2015, according to the HGCA survey, milling wheat average proteins reached 11.9%, unlike Mr Brown who followed the N-Min blueprint and achieved 13.5% averaging 13.3% over nine years.
For information/reference: Wheat yields from DEFRA Farming Statistics, Regional wheat yields.
