EASY Experiences

Dean Cayley, EASY N potatoes, Bundaberg

Easy choice for Bundaberg grower

Switching from urea to EASY N® fertiliser has been easy for one Bundaberg potato grower after seeing the excellent results the liquid fertiliser delivered.

Dean Cayley grows a mix of potatoes, sugarcane and soybeans on his 120 hectare property near Bundaberg.

Dean had used urea in the past on the 60 hectare plot of potatoes but decided to give EASY N a go after significant rainfall in 2008, where 228mm of rain fell in two days, leaving much of his crop covered in water.

“Our soils are very sandy and so when we had all that rain, we lost a significant amount of nitrogen through leaching,” Dean said.

“Simon Andreoli from BGA Agriservices and Noel Matthews from Incitec Pivot Fertilisers suggested using EASY N because it delivered nitrogen to the crop straight away.”

Simon said he initially recommended EASY N to Dean because of the nitrate it delivered and its ease of use.

“The soils around Bundaberg tend to be very sandy and therefore we can have problems with nitrogen leaching,” Simon said.

“EASY N gave Dean the nitrogen his crops needed after the rains, as well as making it easier for him to supply it through his irrigation system.”

After the heavy rain, Dean injected two applications of 25 L/ha of EASY N into his trickle fertigation system, which he said gave a marked improvement in the crop’s appearance almost immediately.

“Within seven days, the crops had gone from being very yellow to dark green, which is something I hadn’t seen when using urea,” he said.

As well as a marked nutritional improvement, Dean said ease of use with EASY N in the irrigation system compared to urea favourably.

“It was very easy to use – I didn’t have to make any changes to my system to use EASY N as we have all PVC fittings and pipes,” he said.

“Compared to urea, I’m so impressed with the results EASY N has delivered that I don’t think I will ever use granular urea on potatoes again.”

Dean added that the cost of using EASY N also compared well with using granular fertilisers.

“If you are buying 1,000 litres at a time, EASY N is not that expensive compared to urea,” he said.

“If you base your costs on crop performance, EASY N is worth it.”

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