Importance of Soil Nutrition

Photograph courtesy of Timac Importance Nutrigrass, a product first designed for dairy cattle grazing but which seems to meet the needs of the pitches of Soil Nutrition Improving pitch & animal health

It may seem like an obvious link, but many grounds and grazing managers still overlook the influence of the soil on the health of both the turf and the animal’s grazing it. For a few years now Longdole Polo Club has worked with Timac Agro to improve their soil health through soil conditioning and technical nutrition solutions with notable benefits, both to the playing surfaces and the grazing.

Gary Raimes, Head Groundsman at Longdole, first became interested in the Timac approach to soil health and nutrition when in conversation with them it was mentioned that reducing nitrogen availability increased dry matter, plus the seaweed-enhanced technology in their fertilisers improved the grasses ability to process nutrition to give a stiffer, higher protein plant with an enhanced potential for recovery from stresses such as cutting, grazing and being played upon. “The main thing [with working with Timac] has been the great product and fantastic support – it’s a bit like making good bread – it’s getting good ingredients and tweaking them and it always gets better and being sympathetic with the land and plant and when you look at the grass it shows you it’s happy.”

The products used at Longdole use Timac’s N-Process nitrogen technology; this is a technical soil conditioning slow-release fertiliser with a seaweed-derived biostimulant included to enhance the plant uptake and use of the nitrogen. What this means is that the grass is never over-supplied with nutrition as can happen with conventional fertiliser, plus it is stimulated to process the nitrogen into protein more efficiently resulting in a more resilient grass plant that is less stressed by cutting or crushing and is able to recover more rapidly.

The playing surfaces receive Nutrigrass, a product first designed for dairy cattle grazing but which seems to meet the needs of the pitches and practice arenas equally well. This is occasionally combined with Topphos, a product designed by and unique to Timac which supplies Phosphate on a similar on-demand basis without being affected by the pH-related lock-up that can affect other conventional sources. These products are available in compound granular form, applied through a conventional spreader and work in synergy to provide Nitrogen, phosphate, sulphur and a range of trace elements to the soil for optimal grass health.

By working with their Timac crop nutrition advisors, Longdole also use a dedicated low-input grazing compound, Maxigrass, on their grazing paddocks. Gary is pleased with the increase in palatability, “In years gone by, where some of the grasses were just being left alone and they would just grow up and go to head, you could see the stalky, dead, long leafy grass. And so, after using the Maxigrass this changed. For instance, if you had a six acre paddock you were literally getting six acres of grass that all the horses were eating. Whereas before, realistically, you probably were losing an acre or two they wouldn’t eat. So that was basically quite evident because when we were using the Maxigrass then that started to disappear, very obviously. Without a shadow of a doubt. In the past we used to go out and top off these bits of grasses but, [the improvement] is evident, so easy to see, even in the winter.”

As with Nutrigrass, Maxigrass contains N-process technology along with a slow-release phosphate, a conventional source of potash and soil-conditioning marine calcium that works in a similar way to calcified seaweed to improve soil health yet is more sustainable and environmentally friendly (calcified seaweed is actually a cold-water coral, that is rare now and highly protected as a marine ecosystem). What this means is the grazing is more palatable, grows in a more even fashion and is less likely to cause nutrition-based issues such as laminitis in the ponies.

Timac enjoy working with Longdole. The partnership between Longdole and Timac is working for both sides. Timac listen to their clients’ needs to deliver nutrition solutions that are sustainable and provide a return on their investment, something which Gary has enjoyed, “Ever since our first meeting, if I’m not sure about something it’s a phone call or maybe a photo on WhatsApp or something and I’ve always got a second opinion, a valuable opinion behind me, and because their people tend to be fairly local, it’s not too difficult. If you’re passing in the area I’ll say drop by, have a look, let me know and just go from there, so it’s just everyone at Timac seems to be very involved in all aspects, including after sales service.”

Timac Agro UK

Contact: +44 (0) 7498 549750 Email: stephen.townsend@uk.timacagro.com Website: www.uk.timacagro.com