How to save 20% on fertilizer costs?
The funds that each farmer spends on fertilizer are a significant part of the cost of raw materials and materials in agricultural production, and in recent months their amount has been rising faster than the price of finished products.
Each optimization option helps farmers to be more sustainable, but at the same time it is important that the crop receives the necessary nutrients
This week we decided to share with you the story of another client of ours from Central Bulgaria, namely the farm of Varbanovi Ltd., who have successfully applied the variable rate fertilization technology (VRA) in combination with a Kverneland mower for the second year in a row.
The History of Varbanovi Ltd
Varbanovi Ltd. is a family farm operating in the region of the city of Varbanovi. Veliko Tarnovo. They entrust their decisions on how much, where and how to fertilize to the agricultural team of NIK Agro Service for areas of nearly 4,500 decares of what they manage. For these areas of the farm there is a 4-year subscription to the AgroBalance service with variable fertilization included, which means that every year they are subjected to soil sampling and as a final result they receive cards with recommendations for variable fertilization.
Initially, detailed sampling and analyses were carried out, which in 2020 outlined an uneven distribution of phosphorus stock in the studied areas. In these cases, the advice of agronomist Poliksena Marinova is as follows:
“Against such a background, flat-rate fertilization is ineffective and contributes to the fact that certain areas of the field are systematically overfertilized, and at the same time in other areas phosphorus is insufficient for proper plant development. In these cases, it is most effective and correct to apply alternating fertilizing with the active substance phosphorus”
The implementation of VRA fertilization technology on this farm proved to be a profitable move, bringing with it not only lower fertilization costs (15-25% *), but also excellent results at harvest time.
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For the implementation of the technology itself and the subsequent good results in the field, it is necessary:
- Precise drawing of a VRA map
- Equipment for accurate execution of the VRA map
The equipment that Varbanovi Ltd. has at its disposal includes a precision mower Kverneland TL GEOSPREAD and a GPS navigation display Trimble with ISOBUS connection and the possibility of inventory management.
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