Many farmers have been soil and pasture testing their farms for decades, testing a few paddocks and using the results to formulate a fertiliser recommendation for the whole farm. Although this may have been the standard procedure for many, it falls well short of what we call Nutrient Management.
Intepasture is a tool that helps the user to interpret pasture production data, spot trends and relationships. and make better management decisions.
The “old way” does not take into account information gathered over the years (old tests) and therefore doesn’t take into account variability between paddock and nutrient trends. Not incorporating the results with herbage test results may mean that you will be applying nutrient which may be marginal on the latest soil test, but have always been more than adequate on pasture tests. And wouldn’t it be interesting to see why some paddocks is consistently producing more Dry matter than other paddocks? In most cases you have most of the information already there. It’s usually just too hard to see the Big Picture as the information is often spread over different computer files and filing cabinets.
Seeing the results of soil, herbage and other testing, as well as production data all in one place, and from an integrated different perspectives, make it much easier to understand the farm’s nutritional requirements from a holistic point of view. Seeing all results projected on a farm map will identify which paddock needs special attention or fertiliser inputs. Rather than respond to something which may look low on a graph, we now start to actually manage nutrients.
Intepasture is a service that allows you to pull all this information together and make it much easier to make management decisions that are based on all the information you have, rather than just the very latest soils test form one or two paddocks. It will allow you to spend your money much wiser and stop applying expensive inputs to paddocks that may not need it.
Intepasture is a tool that helps farmers make better fertiliser management decisions, leading to more efficient and profitable use of fertiliser. As more data is collected about pasture production (with increasing use of pasture meters, management of effluent as a nutrient fertiliser input, and the trend towards more intensive testing of soil and plant nutrients), farmers need a way of managing this flow of data from year to year if they are to get the most value from it.
Intepasture gathers together soil, herbage and pasture production data in a way that makes it much easier to identify trends over time, and to see differences between the fertiliser requirements of individual paddocks.
Using Intepasture to quantify and analyse variability between different groups of paddocks, farms can be split into different management units. Intepasture also enhances communication between farmers, fertiliser companies, and farm advisors. Everyone can see the same view within seconds.
Paddocks that require more of a particular nutrient won’t be over-looked, while those that require less will be more apparent. Seeing all results projected on a farm map quickly shows which paddocks needs special attention or fertiliser inputs. The end result is that fertiliser is applied where it is most needed, while at the same time reducing the risk of wasteful loss to the environment.