Liquid back to granular fertiliser?

[Brisel]

I don't regret going back at all too solid,tried liquid for a couple of years its over rated.
This had been discussed many times on here,people either fantasise about liquid or for me its was a nightmare.

Apologies. I'm a fan of liquid and I helped persuade you to consider switching. In my post, the last time you & I discussed it I did say the word "scorch" many times!

I switched to liquid when dividing up fields into smaller ones (don't ask why, it's not relevant here) and when losing staff when also downsizing the farmed area. With a crappy old Amazone spinner, I wasn't getting a good spread in the outside 6m of crop so 1000 ha x 6m of lower yields soon made liquid worth investing in, especially with a purpose built Chafer sprayer designed from day one with liquid in mind.

Solid vs liquid at wide tramline widths (30+ metres) is a different debate to 24 metres or less. At narrower widths the choice of products is considerably better. At 36m you need Nitram or Extran quality which is a similar price to liquid.

I'm on solid here on mu current farm which suits logistics nicely. And I can use lower grade imported fertiliser at 24m. The Kuhn spinner is more accurate on headlands and the game birds munch the outsides anyway!

 

[ajd132]

My experience won’t relate to the machines you are looking at but liquid does increase wear and tear on sprayers which have become very expensive and complex. My own experience is that it is possible to be very accurate with liquid and a very basic sprayer. Today’s ultra sophisticated agrochemical applicators are over kill for fert. Not least because dribble bars are not height dependent. For me PWM seems a step too far for combinable crops even on a medium/large scale. I suppose it is different for contractors, customers may demand it?

Future proofing for spot spraying technology etc. not far off but needs pwm

 

[jg123]

I'm surprised I always thought liquid was cheaper and the main reason people went liquid. Iv never had the sprayer capable to do it so never looked into it.

It's always looked a ball ache to me. Put spinner on in 5 mins, get a lovely spinner for 10-15k. Plenty of acres in the tub, 55kph on the road, 20kph in the field, turning fast on the headlands if conditions allow, not watching your booms, no folding for telegraph poles or gateways all the time. Takes 10 mins to completely wash down at night.

Far from an untrained driver but probably less trained than someone who is applying liquid throught a sprayer.... (is pa qualifications irrelevant for fert?)

Iv just changed my sprayer now for a older but very tidy self propelled, I'd hate to put liquid through it and watch it rust even tho it's value is tiny compared to most people's sprayers on liquid.

Is a big part of it fert storage then? Or just to help justify the 150k sprayer? Applying in dry weather for uptake?

 

[Thomas Simpson]

We do both gives alot more flexibity if its too windy can go with liquid or need to go spraying can go with solid. 36m you have to be picky with your days. Also can do all the urea before april and then chuck in some limus clear and go with the liquid.

 

[Against_the_grain]

We have done both and swapped back and forth over the years. I think on balance liquid is the better option although we make our own by melting Urea so cost is kept down. Its defiantely more accurate and utilises the expensive tech on the sprayer more efficiently. We do have an older weigh cell spinner for P+K and if fields are really wet will use it to spin some N on.
Biggest issue with liquid IMO is finding the gaps to apply it between herbicides/fungicidesm(+/- 5days)