{"id":19069,"date":"2021-12-13T12:35:55","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T12:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/?p=19069"},"modified":"2026-03-17T12:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:09:11","slug":"farmer-story-liquid-fertiliser-offers-sustainable-farming-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/farmer-story-liquid-fertiliser-offers-sustainable-farming-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmer Story – Liquid Fertiliser Offers Sustainable Farming Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"Omex\n \n
\n\n
\n

In the last 30 years D S King and Son\u2019s, Pasture Hill Farm, Bourne in Lincolnshire has adapted its business to keep pace of an increasingly challenging industry, helping to secure a sustainable farming<\/a> future.<\/p>\n

Traditionally a plough-based cultivation regime, the farm switched to a minimum tillage system and moved away from granular fertiliser to liquid solutions and suspensions<\/a>, in an effort to drive down input costs while maintaining profitability and improving the environmental footprint<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The business currently runs to 688ha of tenanted and contract farmed land and supports a rotation based on milling, feed and seed quality wheat, winter feed barley, oilseed rape, winter beans, linseed and spring oats. Wheat is grown on a two year rotation and yields average 9.5t\/ha.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiquid rather than granular fertiliser have been used on the farm for decades due to its improved accuracy, better environmental profile, convenience and better health and safety implications compared to a granular fertiliser alternative,\u201d says Daniel King. \u201cIt has had a huge impact on our business performance over the years.\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n

OMEX liquid fertilisers<\/a> are delivered from Bardney in Lincolnshire and pumped directly into the farm\u2019s two strategically positioned 50t bunded tanks.<\/p>\n

\u201cA key advantage of liquid fertiliser is that there is no risk to our employees unloading heavy bags or filling the spreader,\u201d he says. \u201cWe also don\u2019t have to worry about storing bags under cover, which frees up valuable space for crops and machinery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith fewer pesticides in the product armoury we have had to extend our rotation and introduce a wider variety of crops. This means we have to be able to store these crops after harvest so space is at a premium.<\/p>\n

\u201cGranular fertiliser can be applied up to 24m but there is always going to be over and under lapping, especially on the headlands,\u201d he explains. \u201cWith all farmers now having to be more environmentally aware, liquid fertiliser fits the profile perfectly and in my opinion is really the only option for farming\u2019s future.\u201d<\/strong><\/h5>\n

He adds that with a liquid system being so much more accurate, it presents an excellent opportunity to reduce inputs without compromising yield and quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fertiliser inputs have definitely reduced although we wouldn\u2019t claim yields have gone up since switching from granular to liquids, but certainly grain samples are more consistent and our fields are more uniform.<\/p>\n

Mr King says that much of his farm is flanked by the East Glen River so fertiliser application has to be accurate to avoid contamination of water courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have at least 2.5 miles of river frontage and the nature of granular application means we wouldn\u2019t be able to avoid throwing some of it in the river,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe only way to avoid that from happening on a granular system is to have wider grass<\/a> margins and reduce the rates on the headlands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr King adds that UK growers have to take the environmental issues very seriously and the responsible use of fertiliser is key. \u201cWe do not want to see UK agriculture adopt a similar attitude towards fertiliser use as Denmark, which is to have cut rates by 50%.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabour availability is also an increasing challenge for us,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s expensive and in short supply so we have to find ways to reduce our dependency on it. Fertilising has always been a labour heavy operation that often falls at busy times of the year. A granular application system could typically need up to three people to operate efficiently, compared to a liquid system where only one person is really needed, unless a bowser is employed too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr King has made a strategic decision to add another two fully bunded 50t liquid fertiliser tanks over the autumn. This will reduce dependency on a bowser which is used to support the sprayer on outlying land.<\/p>\n

A key reason for switching to OMEX liquid fertiliser originally was the large portfolio of products available. All fields are treated with Nitroflo<\/a> 26% + 5% SO3<\/sub>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll our crops need sulphur<\/a>,\u201d says Mr King. \u201cAnd everything \u2013 including pesticides \u2013 is applied through our 36m Chafer Sentry sprayer. We can keep spraying in windy conditions without compromising accuracy, which means we are in charge of the operation rather than being dictated to by the weather. We can easily be covering over 10,000ha a year with our sprayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr King fills his liquid fertiliser tanks up in the autumn when prices are most competitive and there is less pressure on delivery. Tanks can be topped up in season, normally within 48 hours of calling OMEX\u2019s Bardney facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt only takes a few minutes to fill the sprayer with one man and the sprayer can cover 25ha per fill up,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

The farm has also benefitted from applying OMEX suspension fertiliser<\/a>, which is competitively priced against TSP and because it is delivered to the farm in tankers and spread using a dedicated contractor there is no hassle and very low management involvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cOMEX carry out soil sampling<\/a> and a bespoke suspension fertiliser mix is applied to stubbles or cultivated land,\u201d says Mr King. \u201cWe don\u2019t have time or labour available to apply TSP in the autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want to find out more about how Liquid Fertilisers can work towards a sustainable future for farming? Speak to your local FACTs qualified agronomist, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19069"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91081,"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19069\/revisions\/91081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omex.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}