Recent weather is, once again, giving some farmers cause for concern. The good weather that the UK has been experiencing of late is giving farmers, especially those in the South and East of the country, only 10% of the rainfall they expected in March and April. If normal levels of rain do fall during late May and June there is a possibility of some crops getting back on track, although some crops like spring barley and milling wheat will struggle.
Wilson Boardman, Managing Director of Micromix Plant Health commented on the recent reports saying, “For farmers who have treated their fields with Nitrogen in March, large amounts of it will have disappeared as Ammonia into the atmosphere. This is particularly significant for those farming milling wheat and we urge farmers to reassess their crops Nitrogen availability now, indeed Foliar Nitrogen may still be applied to Oil-Seed Rape at petal fall to boost yield without any risk to oil levels.”
Mr Boardman believes that the next three weeks are critical to those farming milling wheat. “Now is the time that farmers will be looking to assess the potential of their wheat. With March Nitrogen now pretty much all in the atmosphere, this crop is crying out to be given an all-important boost now.”
Products like Multi-N, a foliar protein boost for milling wheat could, claims Mr Boardman, make all the difference. “Multi-N is not just a concentrated foliar fertiliser based on Urea Thiosulphate. It is specifically formulated for safe but rapid uptake without scorch and achieves a level of efficiency not seen with alternative formulations; and that’s the key – rapid. Farmers have a short window of opportunity still open to them to not just boost the protein in their milling wheat but also to improve late yield and grain quality and turn the recent weather conditions back around to their advantage.
“Multi-N reliably lifts grain proteins up to 1%*, has a very low scorch risk and is rain-fast in just 30 minutes. It is applied through conventional nozzles and a large area can be covered per sprayer tank. It can be safely mixed with most agrochemicals and has a very high efficiency of uptake which assists with NVZ compliance.”
Edward Downing, National Crop Nutrition Technical Manager at Frontier who market Multi-N added, “To maximise the potential of your milling wheat and oilseed rape crops this year, foliar applications will be a key component of farmers successful nutrition programme.”
*to be used in conjunction with a robust Nitrogen programme designed to maximise protein potential.
