Dr Sajjad Awan, Soil and Crop Nutrition Agronomist at NRM, advised farmers and other attendees of this year’s Cereals event that soil and crop analysis is key to optimising crop nutrition. He discussed the key drivers of soil health and crop performance and how measuring, managing, and monitoring with laboratory analysis throughout the year helps inform growers’ nutrition plans.
‘There are many drivers of soil health, nutrient availability, and crop performance,’ said Dr Awan. ‘One of the most important is soil pH, which affects soil biology through soil respiration. The problem is that only a fifth of the samples that we analysed from arable fields in the 2022 to 2023 season were in the target soil pH range. This is an issue as pH is the key driver of nutrient availability and crop performance: if your soils aren’t within optimal range, then your crop yields will drop off. This is why it’s so important to benchmark where your soils are at so you can take corrective action before productivity suffers.’
Dr Awan spoke on the “From Seed to Shelf” mainstage alongside other agricultural experts at Cereals on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th June.
‘Undertaking soil analysis to determine pH levels is just one step growers must take throughout the year to truly maximise their crop production,’ continued Dr Awan. ‘In an ideal world, growers would also measure soil mineral nitrogen levels and then undertake plant tissue analysis to assess the update of nutrients by the crop during the season. Then, when harvest comes around—which will be very soon—it’s the perfect time to think about employing grain analysis as a postmortem of your nutrient management plan.
‘By determining the nutrient status of your grain, you can finetune your following crop’s nitrogen requirement and next season’s fertiliser inputs. This comprehensive view of nutrient use efficiency isn’t just good for your profit margins, but for the environment, too. Ultimately, understanding your data will help you boost productivity, support sustainable food production, and safeguard our world to help benefit everyone in the long term.’
NRM analyses over 600,000 soil samples across all farm types every year. This allows us to gather a large amount of data for representative results, enabling us to draw meaningful comparisons for the benefit of our customers and the UK agricultural industry as a whole. Our various analysis services, including CarbonCheck for soil carbon analysis, CropCheck for plant tissue testing, GrainCheck for grain analysis, and N-Check for soil nitrogen analysis, help customers check they are on course throughout the season. These tools help farmers increase performance and profitability whilst committing to sustainable, resilient practices to help them stay productive.
For more information on our analysis services, contact us.
