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Soil nutrient concentrations and farm gate nutrient balances for dairy farm management in Tasmania

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 02:47 authored by Cotching, W, Taylor, L, Findlay, S, P Davies, Brown, R
Soil testing was undertaken on 1698 pasture paddocks on 109 dairy farms across Tasmania as part of the Fert$mart planning process. Forty-five per cent of paddocks had soil Olsen P concentrations above the concentration where any response could be expected from the application of additional P fertiliser. There was uneven distribution of nutrient concentrations across farms possibly relating to different soil types, previous fertiliser applications and grazing management practices. The range in Olsen P across paddocks was 5–134 mg/kg. Many paddocks (43%) had mean soil extractable K and KCl-S (39%) concentrations above that required for optimum plant growth. Only 3.7% of paddocks tested had nutrient levels in the optimum range for all of the four nutrient measures. Whole farm nutrient budgets found deficits to large surpluses for P, K and S. The Fert$mart process combines a farm nutrient budget with soil testing as tools for improved fertiliser management.

History

Publication title

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

Volume

60

Pagination

216-221

ISSN

0028-8233

Department/School

Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)

Publisher

Sir Publishing

Place of publication

Po Box 399, Wellington, New Zealand

Rights statement

Copyright 2017 The Royal Society of New Zealand

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Other plant production and plant primary products not elsewhere classified

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