EASY Experiences

Rowan Block, EASY N broadacre, Toolamba

EASY option pays off at Toolamba

Goulburn Valley producers like Rowan Block at Toolamba are watching every drop from their underground sources in a bid to preserve their precious supplies.

For Rowan, this means applying Incitec Pivot Fertilisers’ liquid fertiliser, EASY N, through his centre pivot from water drawn from a bore that was drilled three years ago.

Rowan and his wife Debbie invested heavily in the process to find the right water point, which now allows them to irrigate their lucerne for hay and seed over the winter and their double-cropped maize over the summer, supplying feed for their own cattle and sheep as well as for dairies in the local area.

While Rowan will get five cuts of hay from the lucerne crop, as well as the opportunity to graze his ewes on the paddocks at the end of the season prior to lambing, it’s the maize crop that’s returning handsomely on input costs with impressive and consistent yields.

Rowan, who is no stranger to doing his sums diligently after a career in the corporate sector, resumed farming full time in 2004 and decided to grow maize to match the capacity of his irrigation infrastructure and the ability of the local market to absorb his product.

He is streaming liquid nitrogen through his centre pivot – with the rate precision controlled using an automated system called a Fertic applicator, located at the base of the centre pivot. EASY N is applied between three and five times each week over the 17 hectares of maize over four weeks.

“Applying small quantities, often, I’m told is the best method of applying EASY N,” Rowan said.

“I just set and forget it. As long as the water pressure in the system remains constant, it’s that easy.”

Depending on the results of soil tests, 300-350 kg/ha of urea is pre-drilled prior to planting and 250-300 kg/ha of DAP applied at planting around the end of the first week of November, with the maize planted shallow and lightly watered as it grows.

At about week seven in early January, around tasselling, the crop is hit with a New Year boost when the first of the EASY N fertigations is applied depending on the crop’s needs at the time.

“This is the critical growing period when the crop requires access to large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus and water for setting up yield capability, which will have a big impact on feed quality at the time of harvest,” Rowan says.

“While the initial hit of granular fertiliser at the start of the season gives it the best start, it’s certainly not enough to carry the crop through. To meet our yield target we need to deliver the plant nutrient requirements at the right time, and EASY N applied to the crop through the centre pivot allows us to do that.

“Maize is a big nitrogen user. It’s a high input, high cost crop and you only have to be slightly out in your crop management and it will cost you dearly,” he said.

“That’s why I use EASY N. I buy it in 1,000 litre containers, and for my purposes of fertigating over a small area it gets the job done perfectly and the costs stack up well given the savings I make in labour and time and my return at harvest.

“I guess that’s why they call it easy.”

 

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