• Applying foliar nitrogen timing

      if your soil is low in N and you have used a fertiliser at seeding with a low % of N – when is the best time after plant emergence to apply foliar nitrogen?

      Mark Tupman
      2 Comments
      • Mark Tupman (edited)

        Hey Will,

        You can apply foliar nitrogen at any stage after emergence as the rates of N are quite low and what doesn’t get on the leaves ends up on the soil anyway.

        However, plant uptake of any fraction that lands on a leaf is much more efficient and you get better bang for your buck if you wait until there is a decent amount of leaf matter before…

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        • Agree with everything Mark said. There is some mineralisation of N from organic matter after the break, so adding extra N too early will have less benefit than once the plants are actively growing. The cropping guys work on topping up 4-6 weeks post emergence for winter cereals. If you have kikuyu as a dominant pasture, extra N now with…

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        • Busy weekend, besides the seeding got a Johnson Su Compost Bioreactor going – made out of a couple of IBC’s..

          Mark Tupman, Joanna Wren and 2 others
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        • I’m happy to see chicory and plantain coming thru my vine inter row cover crop after sheep have grazed the crop down. Looking forward to them both being actively feeding microbes during summer also. the cover crop (Goodies Farm mix plus linseed, chicory, plantain and primrose) were sown mid April. I felt a bit guilty cultivating thin strips with…

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          Joanna Wren and Mark Tupman
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          • That sounds like a great mix of species Murray.

            We dry seed the inter rows in late summer, when all the weeds are dead, to avoid tilling.

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          • Murray, 

            We converted a small rotary hoe to a strip seeder with tyre drags behind. Seemed to work quite well. I’ll  try get a video of it for you. 

            Dean

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        • Talkin' Composting for Farms with Mark Tupman

          In this episode Jo & Kate talk to Agroecologist Mark Tupman on all things composting for farms – what the options are, how to make…

          Mark Tupman
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        • Winter Induced Nitrogen Deficiency

          At this time of year crops and pastures are prone to nitrogen deficiency. This happens because the biological activity behind processes such as nitrogen fixation,…

          Kate Tarrant and Mark Tupman
          3 Comments
          • This is great info Mark. We put out a foliar onto one of our paddocks on the weekend so let’s see what happens!
            • Thanks Mark, some great tank mixes there! I have just started down the foliar road this year, and need to learn a lot in this space. I have been focusing on trace elements based on EAL soil tests and… Read more
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          • When Is the Best Time to Graze Multi-species Pastures

            One question I often hear asked at this time of year is – when can we graze the paddocks that have been sown with a…

            Mark Tupman
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          • @kate

            The season has well and truly broken. For those of you seeding cover crops or multi species pastures, if you havent got them in the ground yet, the weeds have now getminated and some form of weed control will be necessary prior to planting. Small weeds are much easier to deal with than big ones so the sooner the better. Also good to…

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            Kate Tarrant, Mark Tupman and Lower Blackwood LCDC
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