Savings of $25,000 in fertiliser without reducing productivity
Product Range: NatraMin K, NatraMin Hi-Phos and NatraMin Cal-S
Region: Macksville, NSW
Macksville dairy farmer, Kevin Sinclair, has just one regret since using NatraMin …
I wish that I’d started using it sooner”.
Changing the way we farm…
Saving their soil and pastures is not the only benefit dairy farmers have discovered with using NatraMin… many have saved thousands of dollars too. Kevin and Bruce Sinclair from Macksville, New South Wales first applied NatraMin K and NatraMin Hi-Phos to their pastures five years ago, after losing faith in straight chemical fertiliser.
Following traditional recommendations, we were using increasing rates of fertiliser but we were frustrated by the lack of response… and the high levels of fertiliser just made our pastures sour,” said Kevin.
The Sinclairs have now used NatraMin for over five years… “The results continue to improve. Our legumes are excellent, particularly the clover. Although it’s been a good season for clover, we’re growing and grazing more leaf whereas before using NatraMin, our clover was more stalk and flower.”
Annual Application of NatraMin …
Applying NatraMin once each year has saved the Sinclairs time and energy, plus produced a significant saving in Lime and Super. Kevin acknowledges that costs did not decrease dramatically during the initial transition period but expenses for fertiliser have now been reduced by 50%. Kevin advises that a little patience is required… “With NatraMin we could see some improvement initially, but after 12 months the results were quite distinct. My advice is to spread NatraMin and then give it time to work. We’ve now been able to cut fertiliser use in half.”
Savings on Super and Lime…
“It has now been 6 years since we’ve used Super or Lime. We’re watching our soil tests and pH and we are more than happy with how things are performing. I’m aware that repeated use of Lime can become a problem because excess Calcium can tie up other nutrients. ”
Various Uses…
Demonstrating a flair for diversification, Kevin and Gail have grown plums alongside their dairying operation. “We’ve grown plums for 13 years and have seen a good response since using NatraMin in conjunction with blood & bone and foliar fertilisers.”
Soil testing… the benefits of an integrated approach…
AgSolutions Field Advisor, Roger Newman has been working with the Sinclairs for over 5 years now. “What I do appreciate is that Roger explains the soil tests to me and in addition to recommending NatraMin, he provides advice on any other products that are required. After 12 months, I understood the program that Roger had put together which included specific advice on pasture and soil management.”
We’ve now cut our Urea and planting fertilisers in half. Last year we saved around $25,000 and yet we’ve had the same, if not better productivity in our pastures. NatraMin has got everything working – for top dressing, we’ve cut back from using 50kg of Nitram per acre to 20kg of Urea… and our pastures are performing well.”
Better utilization of fertilisers…
Kevin acknowledges… “Our soil and pasture, as well as our hip pocket have all shown the benefits since using Roger’s advice. If we were still on the old Nitrogen, Super and Lime program we would have used a lot more fertiliser… and too much chemical fertiliser had begun to damage our soil. With the use of NatraMin, everything is going well and our rye has gone right through and has hung on during the dry periods. Reduced fertiliser use, regular mulching and annual applications of NatraMin has given us proven results.”
Despite Kevin’s regret of not using NatraMin earlier, he concedes that it is never too late to change. Kevin is keen to communicate to other farmers that the transition to a NatraMin based program was simple… it resulted in reduced expenses… and was made easy by the advice offered by AgSolutions Australia.