Spring malting barley growers could save on valuable nitrogen fertiliser by using nitrification inhibitors to cut costs and fit in with big brewers’ desire to cut their carbon footprint.

Growers could be saving up to 20kg/ha of nitrogen while meeting the needs of the likes of Heineken and Budweiser brewer AB InBev to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the barley they use.

See also: Cover crops help cut fertiliser costs for spring barley grower

Agrochemical giant BASF is producing nitrification inhibitors as part of its own commitment to produce barley sustainably and cut carbon dioxide emission in the four key crops of cereals, maize, oilseed rape and rice by 30% by 2030.

Matthias Nachtmann, business developer with the group, says its “better barley” programme looks at ways of producing barley with just the right amount of nitrogen fertiliser and it has been successful meeting the needs of German brewers.

“Brewers are looking to cut their carbon dioxide emissions and realise that more than 50% of those emissions come from nitrogen fertiliser use in the field,” he tells Farmers Weekly.

Cut back on nitrogen

Mr Nachtmann points out that growers can save money by cutting back on the use of high-priced nitrogen fertiliser using three of the group’s own products.

The first two are nitrification inhibitors.

Vizura – an additive that can be used with slurry and digestate, and looks to improve nitrogen use efficiency by reducing nitrogen losses from nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide gas into the atmosphere.

Secondly Vibelsol – an additive used with solid fertiliser.

The third is the urease inhibitor Limus, which can be added to liquid urea fertiliser. The first and third are available to UK growers.

Mr Nachtmann says the products have helped German farmers meet the maltsters’ and brewers’ needs for barley at a protein content of 9.5% to 11.5%, which equates to a grain nitrogen content of 1.52-1.84%.

The group has been producing these products for a number of years for use in slurries or in other company’s fertiliser products.

The recent sharp hike of nitrogen fertiliser prices has focused growers’ minds, with nitrogen prices up two to three times since the early part of 2021.

One farmer using the solid product Vibelsol is Dominick Bellaire, who grows 10ha of spring barley on his 200ha farm at Schmiedhof near Neupotz, some 50 miles south of Frankfurt in the Rhine valley.

He grows 5ha under the better barley scheme to help cut his costs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and has been making a saving by apply less nitrogen fertiliser to his spring barley crop.