Nitrogen use in the spotlight as grain industry pushes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Birchip Cropping Group senior research manager James Murray said the obvious way to reduce emissions from nitrogen fertiliser was to use less of it.

Apart from growing more nitrogen-fixing legumes to reduce fertiliser use, Mr Murray says there are products available to slow the volatilisation process, which occurs when nitrogen is applied to a crop and there is insufficient rainfall following application to break it down.

Mr Murray said whether or not farmers used a urease inhibitor, there was significant value in getting nitrogen application right and minimising volatilisation.

Countries including New Zealand, Canada and the Netherlands are pursuing limits on fertiliser application to reduce emissions, which Mr Murray says is a consideration for farmers here.

Mr Batters said while he thought his trials were otherwise healthy, they were severely lacking in nitrogen and he had not been able to make up the shortfall with the alternatives he has used

"I went largely cold turkey and stopped using synthetic fertilisers and it's been quite stark, the difference between applied synthetic fertilisers and no synthetic fertiliser and having to rely on those alternatives," he said