Nutrient research for cereals and oilseeds

With fertiliser prices increasing over the long term and pressure building to reduce nutrient losses, our research delivers robust, independent and practical guidance, mainly via the AHDB Nutrient Management Guide (RB209).

Input-cost and commodity-price volatility means a constant eye needs to be kept on the nutrient management equation. With climate change mitigation firmly back on the world’s radar, in addition to numerous other environmental concerns, RB209 guidance is needed more than ever. With fertiliser prices recently reaching historic highs, this area of research is a high priority.

AHDB research focuses on:

• Providing robust guidance on the use of fertiliser, manure and slurry applications to cropped land, via RB209
• Funding research to address major nutrient management knowledge gaps
• Communicating ways to optimise nutrient use that maximises farm profitability and minimises environmental impacts

Find out about the latest strategic review of RB209, including how we captured and are responding to your views about the future of the guidance.

How to account for nutrients in cover crops is the subject of our 2025 desk study. Funded by AHDB and three water companies, the ADAS-led project includes assessments of decision support tools that estimate the quantity of nitrogen and nutrient release patterns associated with a wide range of cover crop species. An online questionnaire and a stakeholder workshop also identified the resources needed to improve nutrient management planning across rotations.

There are many ways to improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and the quickest wins are about adapting readily available information (such as from the RL and RB209) for use in a wide range of farming situations.

In 2026, we will showcase winter wheat NUE demonstration trials at some of our variety open days in the summer to promote debate about the critical role of good agronomic practice in improving NUE. The recent RL review found that current commercial varieties do not vary greatly in their NUE.

Beyond this initiative, we will continue to work with the industry to identify ways to measure NUE and track traits through the variety pipeline. We will also continue to collaborate with others to examine ways to improve RB209 guidance and its implementation.

Our GB fertiliser price series indicates price trends for key fertiliser products: ammonium nitrate (UK produced and imported), liquid nitrogen (UAN), granular urea, potash, phosphates, polysulphate and nitrate sulphur.

Nutrient use efficiency is a large and complex subject, even when focused on one major nutrient – nitrogen. How nitrogen behaves in farming systems is often variable and hard to pin down, which is why it is a major discussion point at our Strategic Cereal Farms.

Information on all nutrient research projects is available in our research archive:

• In the ‘Sector’ drop-down box, select ‘Cereals & Oilseeds’
• In the ‘Topic’ drop-down box, select ‘Nutrient management’

Note: A report is submitted at the end of each project. After review (which can take several weeks), the final project report is published on the corresponding project page. At this stage, the project is official complete.