In broadacre cropping and pasture, the last two seasons in Victoria and New South Wales have been exceptional. As a result, when considering your fertiliser requirements for 2022, it is important to consider the amount of nutrients your crops or livestock have removed.

Phosphorus is a critical nutrient for high yielding crops and pastures. It is typically tightly bound in soils, particularly in acidic antagonistic soils. In planning fertiliser applications, we need to consider the background or P reserves in addition to the water and citrate soluble/plant-available forms. While it is imperative to have immediately available plant-available P, so crops and pastures can quickly establish, they also need a good level of sustained release / capital P to support growth through the entire season.

BioAgPhos is ideal for both an immediate and long-term P source as it has 30% immediately plant-available P while the remainder is released over the next 1 to 2 years. It will also help build background levels of P in the soil and contribute to neutralising, due to the calcium content and natural alkalinity.

Soluble P is also a lot more susceptible to losses from runoff and tie up in acid soils, so having a sustained release of P such as BioAgPhos allows you to get more P for your money as it all becomes available over time. Including a Bray 2 or Total P test in your soil analysis results will help determine the level of background P and should be done when using BioAgPhos.

Cropping

Most cropping systems include the annual application of soil ameliorants such as lime and gypsum to counter the acidifying impacts of modern production. BioAgPhos, a grit sized product, is ideal to incorporate with these ameliorants, as it can be pre-mixed on-farm then spread in one pass before the next sowing. Applying 100-200kg/ha of BAP with your ameliorants per rotation will help build available and background levels of P and Ca. In addition, other macronutrients such as Sulphur, Potassium, Magnesium and traces can be blended with BioAgPhos and applied together. When growing lucerne or pulses, BioAgPhos is beneficial in supporting the higher and sustained P requirements for these crops. 

Pasture

It has been well established that aside from Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulphur are the next most important macro nutrients for high performing pastures. The ability of BioAgPhos to provide a consistent supply of P through the growing season makes it the perfect product for pasture application. This is very important, especially in higher rainfall or lightly textured soils. It greatly reduces the loss of P, with the subsequent benefit of minimising environmental impacts.

Sustained-release P supports root growth and the development of clover, of great value given its ability to fix Nitrogen in soils.

In pastures it is essential to maintain good nutrient levels, not only to maintain and increase production but for animal health purposes as they are essential for energy, bone, muscle, and DNA synthesis.

Again, BioAgPhos is ideal to mix with other ameliorants, but in many cases, it is applied on its own. In addition it can be applied every second year, helping to reduce the cost of application.

For these reasons, BioAgPhos provides a sensible and cost-effective supply of Phosphorus and other nutrients to pasture systems, supporting growth throughout the growing season, ultimately aiding root growth and nutrient access, improving carbon sequestration and livestock health without compromising production.