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what kind of saving that really amounts to . RTK used now is amazingly accurate .
‘ The N Sensor now has the N Tester that physically calculates the amount of nitrogen in the leaf . It then works on the principle that if the plant doesn ’ t need nitrogen then it doesn ’ t apply it . When I trialled the N Tester it saved 40 percent of the nitrogen I was applying . The advice to farmers has always been to apply between 120- 180kgs of nitrogen and your crop will be fine but the N Sensor combined with the N Tester is now completely turning that on its head .
‘ If I ’ d have stuck to what the N Tester trial told me a couple of years ago I would have given my crop 120kgs instead of the usual 220kgs , a saving of 100kgs . I
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was a little nervous of giving the crop that little so I applied 160kgs instead of the 120kgs that had been stated . In effect I bottled it a bit but in the end I still achieved an increase on yield response of eight percent . It takes a bit of convincing no matter who you are , to stick with it when you ’ re told to apply a lot less than normal but the guys who have stuck to what the figures tell them have achieved very good crops . The guys who disbelieved similar instructions and carried on doing things their way adding more than they had been informed ended up with flat crops because they had effectively overdosed them . The lesson is to trust the system you ’ re using .
‘ We test all land blocks once every four years and compare
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our yield maps with phosphate and potash maps . We look at the geo-physical attributes in the soil and look at what is or isn ’ t benefitting the crops . It ’ s all about taking that extra care over your land and getting the best crops you can . We download everything into our Gatekeeper computer package to analyse performance and make decisions on the following year .’ |
It ’ s all about taking that extra care of your land
David ’ s farm machinery includes the Mzuri drill ; four John Deere tractors and two Claas Lexion combine harvesters . He ’ s also the new chairman of the
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Ridings Machinery Ring having taken over from Joe Barrowman of Garforth . David ’ s father , the late Mike Blacker , was chairman and a founding member of the group .
‘ RMR is still working well . The same principles exist as when it started - people working together by sharing machinery and labour that is rented between the two parties concerned . This helps reduce fixed costs . It is also acting as a buying group to save more for members through bulk buying and has ties with the Woldmarsh group in Lincolnshire .’
David is also an HGCA monitor farmer and works with the AHTB . He ’ s married to Victoria who is a journalist and they have three children : Izzy ( 14 ), Billy ( 12 ) and Joe ( 10 ).
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