The spreading period for chemical fertiliser reopens tomorrow, (Monday, January 27) for farmers in 'Zone A' which means that plans should be put in place for application this spring.

Farms located in ‘Zone A’, which includes Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow, can apply chemical fertiliser with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) on January 27.

The earliest date in which farmers in ‘Zone B’, which consists of counties Clare, Galway, Kerry, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Roscommon, Sligo and Westmeath, can spread is January 30.

Farmers located in the ‘Zone C’ counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim and Monaghan cannot spread chemical fertilisers containing N or P until the season opens on February 15, 2025.

Spring grass is vital for spring calving herds as each day the cows are at grass in the spring is worth an extra €3/cow and in order to keep grass in front of cows and meet the herd demand, chemical fertiliser is going to be crucial.

Early nitrogen will be crucial this spring and it was recommended to apply 20-30kg of chemical nitrogen (N)/ha (16-23 units/ac) in the form of protected urea from early in the season.

Teagasc's John McCabe has highlighted that for early nitrogen to be worthwhile, spread when no major rain has fallen and when soil temperature is above 5.5℃ and rising.

By spreading this low rate of N early on will result in a large increase in growth rates in March and early April, with 20-30kg of N being sufficient to capitalise on this.

According to McCabe "a yield response of 13 to 16kg of grass dry matter (DM) per kg of N applied is typical at this rate applied in February".

"I had farmers lose out on 400-700kg of grass growth over the course of the year because they were missing fertiliser N applications up to St. Patrick's day," he warned.

The Teagasc advisor also said that N response rates declines to around 6 to 8kg for applications above 30kg/ha applied in February and delaying application reduces overall grass grown.

Soil temperatures have not been an issue in recent years, however, rainfall and sometimes the lack of rainfall has stopped people from spreading fertiliser.

The advice is to have your fertiliser bought and in the yard and to not wait for the perfect moment to spread the whole farm with fertiliser, but rather, spread where it is suitable to spread.