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Nutrient Use Efficiency Appeals to Wheatbelt Farmers

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Sustainable Agriculture

The fourth and final round of our Nutrient Use Efficiency project (Healthy Soils Healthy Rivers) has attracted another 20 Wheatbelt growers who are interested in boosting their farm productivity by more efficient nutrient use.

This project was designed partly on the back of the Bank West/Planfarm benchmarking (2011/12) and DAFWA survey information suggesting that average nitrogen use efficiency in south-west WA is about 41% and phosphorus use efficiency around 48%.

As fertiliser inputs account for roughly 25% of total farm operating costs there is room, not only for reducing nutrient loss to waterways, but also for improving nutrient use efficiencies on farm that either maintain or increase productivity and increase profitability.

The Nutrient Use Efficiency Project aims to encourage adoption of on-ground activities that work towards these outcomes. On-farm activities include subsoil testing, plant tissue and grain analysis, nutrient use efficiency estimations, paddock nutrient balancing and some economic analysis. Read more about Wheatbelt NRM's Nutrient Use Efficiency project.