However, there is still insufficient evidence of their performance on farm, the Yorkshire Crop Nutrition Club aims to rectify that. This ADOPT-funded project brings together four farms in Yorkshire to test a range of technology to enable more accurate, efficient, and environmentally responsible fertiliser decisions. Fundamentally, crop nutrient requirements depend of three factors:
We can estimate those by Reviewing past experience to Plan nutrient management decisions. In season, we can Check nutrient status with a range of tools to estimate crop deficiency or sufficiency and judge the likely Responsiveness to fresh nutrient applications. At the end of the season, we can Review the success of our nutrient management to inform future decisions.
Review and combine past data from soil and crop analyses, yields and fertiliser records
Measure nutrient availability and other potential crop limiting factors in the soil.
Using satellite data to measure crop development.
Direct measurement of the crop's nutrient status.
Yield mapping and grain quality measurements.
Adam Hayward, Farmer
Farmer Peter Southwell has a long-standing interest in crop nutrition and has been an early adopter of precision farming technologies. He farms, 250 ha in Sancton, East Yorkshire with a rotation of cereals, oilseed rape and vining peas.
Adam is passionate about using new technology on farm. He is keen to use the project to make better, more accurate fertiliser decisions. He farms 400 ha in partnership with his family at Cold Harbour Farm in Bishop Burton, East Yorkshire. The farm grows wheat, oilseed rape, spring barley, vining peas, spring beans and grass for a suckler herd.
Farming together as N Blacker & Sons in Shipton, North Yorkshire. They contract farm and manage around 400 hectares of combinable crops in the Vale of York. They were early adopters of precision agriculture technology and are invovled with a range of trials on-farm.
Responsible for 1600 ha of arable land near Driffield East Yorkshire as well as housing 6000 indoor finisher pigs. They have a chalk-based stream running through the farm so have a drive to improve nutrient efficiencies, reduce losses to the environment.
Dr. Pete Berry and Dr. Kate Storer will lead the ADAS contribution to the project. They are and are based at High Mowthorpe in North Yorkshire
The ADAS High Mowthorpe Farming Association has over 40 farmer and advisor members from across Yorkshire, who regularly meet to discuss results from agronomy and crop nutrition projects. This community will form an extension to the core group of 4 farmers in the Crop Nutrition Club.
Under-application risks yield and quality losses.
Over-application wastes money and increases environmental harm.
Current tools — soil sampling, tissue testing — are limited, often providing only snapshots and lacking real-time insight. New technologies promise better decisions, but farmers need evidence of what works in practice.
Benchmark past nutrient performance using soil tests, fertiliser records, crop analyses, and yields.
This collaborative approach focuses on evidence-based decision-making, not just testing products in isolation.
The inherent complexity and variability of soil and crops across an arable field, coupled with the wide range of potential limiting factors on crop potential mean that achieving results with new technology needs patience and attention to detail. This project will test a number of promising tools that can offer tangible benefits to farms and advisors. Some of the tools are included in the list below:
