Inspirational ideas: Digital tool to building up a picture of soil fertility

“In Ireland, only 15-20% of soils are at optimum soil fertility” says Tim Hyde, Environment Specialist at Teagasc, Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority. For the past 5 years, advisors and farmers in Ireland have been able to use a digital online tool to draw up individual and sustainable Nutrient Management Plans to optimise soil fertility.

The European Commission (EC) estimates that 60 to 70% of soils EU-wide are not in a good condition, for example due to the decline of organic matter and biodiversity. Soil degradation is costing the EU several tens of billion euros per year and causing considerable losses to natural resources. The EU Soil Strategy for 2030 promotes “practices that sustain and enhance soil health and biodiversity, improve cost efficiency and limit the inputs (e.g. pesticides, fertilisers) needed to maintain yields.” Within the new CAP regulation (article 15), by 2024, Member States will be required to offer digital applications for the sustainable management of nutrients. In some Member States, such as Ireland, this type of tool has already been created and is in use.

The Teagasc Nutrient Management Planning (NMP) Online tool was created in 2016. It is a digital platform available to agri-professionals who work with farmers to optimise soil fertility. Combining the advisor’s expert knowledge with data from the online platform, this tool allows to create detailed and individualised nutrient management plans to optimise fertilisation and bring soils up to optimum fertility. Pat Murphy, head of Environment Knowledge Transfer Teagasc, helped to develop the platform and tells us “The data powering our online tool is from the latest research and science available on soil fertility on farms across Ireland, available in the Teagasc Green Book”. 

The advisor first takes soil samples from the farm and analyses them. Data from the soil samples are run through the platform, as well as other information available from the farm such as type of crops, animal numbers, stocking rate, … The digital platform then provides a full picture of the soil fertility on farm and at field level, showing the nutrient demand of the crops per field. The advisor and farmer then draw up a Nutrient Management Plan tailored to the farmer’s needs. Through the platform, advisors can access latest aerial imagery and mapping and can generate user-friendly reports and maps. 

The online tool is able to efficiently complete complex nutrient calculations, taking into account the regulations from the Nitrates Directive as well as the crop requirements. These calculations are based on different parameters such as soil type, current soil fertility and crops being grown. It first addresses the soil pH on the farm and sets out an annual liming plan, a plan to use home-produced organic manures, and, if needed, a roadmap on how and when to build up with chemical fertilisers. In fact, the plan will show what fields need lime, organic manures, N, P and K compounds – the full list of fertilisers for the farm for the year, ensuring that the farm stays within nitrate limits and delivers the best value to the farmer.

Pádraig Foley, technologist at Teagasc, says “The digital tool helps target the fields that need the nutrients. Getting the fertiliser out at the right rate, time and place improves the production capacity on the farm, which builds profit and at the same time enhances environmental sustainability of the farm.” Mark Boland, agricultural advisor applying the tool together with farmers, affirms: “The platform provides a key decision support tool for both advisors and farmers when planning for the year ahead.”

Art Murphy, a tillage farmer from Killabeg (South East of Ireland), requests an NMP plan from his advisor every year: “The plan provides me with accurate fertiliser and lime advice based on up-to-date soil samples I have taken. By following the advice from the plan, I am confident that I will achieve consistent yields and quality.”

Teagasc provides agri-professionals with training on how to use the tool, and has made a series of “How to” videos available on their website. Pádraig Foley concludes “NMP Online will continue to evolve. It will be updated as Teagasc’s scientists make progress both from an agronomic and an environmental sustainability perspective, it will also change along with policy. We cannot forget the end users. This is where the digital tool makes a difference - at farm level, so it must be easy to interpret and simple to use. The future for NMP Online needs to be mobile.”

Project information

• Contact: Padraig Foley Padraig.Foley@teagasc.ie 00353 539171265
• https://www.teagasc.ie/publications/2020/nmp-online-software-for-a-hard-job.php
• https://ec.europa.eu/environment/publications/eu-soil-strategy-2030_en  
• CAP regulation: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32021R2115  

The EU is also developing a platform within the context of the new CAP post 2022, which develops data-based solutions for the sustainable management of nutrients.