Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW JANUARY 2022 23 SOIL PREPARATION W ith signi cant volatility and variation in nitrogen prices, it’s going to be important to optimise nitrogen rates for potatoes next spring. You could also consider the use of nitri cation inhibitors to help retainmoremineral nitrogen in the rootzone of crops, to boost nitrogenuse e ciency and reduce losses. Suspension fertilisers o er exibility to ne-tune nitrogen rates on a eld-by- eld basis and allowDIDIN inclusion to stabilize the nitrogen in the soil. ey are applied as a precise, contract servicewith full traceability and carbon footprint data and can simplify the logistics of planting in the busy spring period. Once late spring arrives, youhave awide range of options in terms of foliar nitrogen to top-up and ne tune, depending on the economics and agronomics on your crops. e importance of monitoring crops through the springwith SAP testing is likely to bemuch greater thannormal years, where crops aremuch closer to the tipping point of steep responses to nitrogen and checking crops through the spring and summerwith a SAP test will prove to be awise, low-cost investment, giving you the exibility to react with foliar nitrogen top-ups if needed. It will be important that you review, revisit and re-assess your nitrogenplans prior to spring anddiscuss themand get advice froma FACTS quali ed advisor to helpmake sure you get the best use of your inputs. For further advice, you can contact the Omex liquid fertiliser experts: Call: 01526 396000 Email: agriculture@omex.com Visit: www.omex.com SPONSORED BY Boosting fertiliser e ciency Total crop nutrition advice to boost plant health and improve crop yield e soil can still be wet and cold at depth when spring-planted crops such as potatoes go in, so he sometimes nds reducing the cultivating depth can be bene cial to reduce clodding. “Turning the soil still has bene ts, there are times that turning the soil can help it warm up more quickly and rain penetrate more easily, but it can also dry out. “Remember that once you have planted it normally takes the soil 10 days to settle, but if you have forced it, it can slump then the tuber has no room to grow, which may lead to ridge cracks and greening. Avoiding compaction ere are a number of factors which can cause compaction, he says, including soil type and the structure of soil working elements, water content of the soil, and the load of harvested material on machinery, putting pressure on the soil. Modern largemachinery canmake a seed bedwhen conditions are not ideal, he notes. “It’s important to spend some time setting up your tractors, weight and ballast, aswell asmaking sure you are using optimumtyre pressures.” If elds are subsoiled, a lot of carbon is lost he points out, adding that subsoiling also reduces the food available for microbes, so when dealing with compaction there are lots of things need to be considered. “ e best tool is spade, so I would always go out anddig a hole andhave a look. Good soil management is all about knowing the challenges youhave to deal with on a particular soil, aswell as being exible and adapting timing according to theweather at the particularmoment. “Soils are particularly vulnerable in spring, so special care should be taken if possible and give the soil time to breathe before ripping it with steel. If the conditions are not right, then it is better to hold back.” “Cover crops on heavy soils need to be removed sooner than on lighter soils because of the risk of slugs.” Looking at a soils map on an iPad. Growers with their own land are increasingly using cover crops to help maintain nutrients.