Chemical Fertilizer Application

The past two weeks I continued on preparing the trial plots for digestate and fertilizer application. Soil temperatures were closely monitored over the past two weeks. On Monday, soil temperatures were taken and dropped to an average of approximately 9.9 ºC. Results from initial soil sample that were taken and sent to JHG Laboratories for microbiological analysis were returned and will be statistically analysed along with further results to come.  Chemical fertilizer was applied to all three farms using a rotary lawn spreader. Both the type and quantity of chemical fertilizer was determined by the Nutrient Management plan I created for each farm. Next week soil temperatures will be continued to be monitored and samples for both soil and herbage will be taken. I will be visiting JHG laboratories for a meeting on soil analysis and I hope to attend a discussion group run by Teagasc on monitoring grass growth. I hope to attend a seminar in IT Tralee on Biogas application in Irish agriculture and the future of small-scale AD digesters on Irish farms on Wednesday.