With increased pressure on the Irish farming community to move to more sustainable farming practices, farmers must consider alternative fertiliser options to reduce nitrogen use on their farm.

Terra is a sustainable fertiliser range, introduced to the market last year, that facilitates a 20% reduction in nitrogen (N) application on farm.

This granular product from Target Fertilisers includes a bio-stimulant called PSI 362. This stimulates the nitrate transponders in the plant to take up more of the free N in the soil, therefore facilitating a reduction in N application.

The physical characteristics of Terra are the same as any other Target Fertilisers’ products. It has the same density, spreading ability and high quality.

So, implementing Terra is as straight forward as a simple swap. For example, TerraCAN + S can be swapped directly for calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) or CAN + S.

Terra can be used for the duration of the fertiliser spreading season. Instead of spreading the Teagasc recommended 100 units of N, you can now achieve the same results by applying 80 units of N using the Terra product range.

Terra (PSI 362 treated) products compared to standard untreated products:

Target Fertilisers has carried out a number of trials on the Terra product range.

In the first trial, the company looked at the average daily grass growth rate using TerraCAN + S (treated) and SuperCAN + S (untreated).

There were 147 units of N applied in the form of SuperCAN and 111 units of N applied in the form of TerraCAN, this is a 24.5% reduction in N applied.

TerraCAN produced 59kg dry matter (DM)/ha/day while the SuperCAN produced 62kg DM/ha/day.

In a grass silage trial carried out across five farms, TerraCUT + S (20N 2P 12K 2S) was compared to Target CUT + S (24N 2.5P 10K 2S).

The average application rate across the five farms was 3.2 bags/ac for both products. The average yield over the five farms in the trial was 4,068kg DM/ha for TerraCUT + S and 4,086kg DM/ha in case of Target CUT + S.

Despite the lower N application using the TerraCut + S the grass DM yield on each farm is similar.

A peer-reviewed paper has been published on TerraCAN used on barley crops, passed in April 2021 and published by Frontiers in Plant Science in May 2021. Presently, papers are being reviewed on grass and cereal trials and are expected to be published late this year.

The Terra range of fertilisers is an on-farm, cost-neutral change. The cost of the addition of the bio-stimulant to the Terra range is offset by the reduction in the level of N added to the product.

When compared to straight N and high N compounds, the Terra products, with 20% less N, have shown similar yields. Along with this, updates on the Nitrates Directive are due in the coming weeks and in turn a revision on the current Nitrates Derogation guidelines will be issued.

This presents a wonderful opportunity to meet climate change targets by lowering N application while maintaining high output by using the Terra range.

For more information on the Terra range, click here.