Manner NPK

Results:

The new version of MANNER – NPK is available from Planet4Farmers.

Planned activity:

• A webinar was held jointly with DairyCo, EBLEX and BPEX in February 2013 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmhwY8ZcojE.
• A link to MANNER – NPK is available on the AHDB website.
• The program will be available at shows to demonstrate its function.

The Problem:

The MANNER decision support system was developed to produce a quick estimate of the fate of manure nitrogen (N) following land application. MANNER was designed to be easy to use and to require only a few simple inputs that should be readily available to all farmers and their advisers.

Feedback from the large number of farmers (particularly livestock farmers) and consultants who use MANNER (more than 10,000 copies of version 3.0 have been distributed) highlighted a number of areas for improvement and enhancement.

These included:

• The facility to predict phosphate (P₂O₅), potash (K₂O), magnesium (MgO) and sulphur (SO₃) supply from organic manures
• The ability to estimate manure nutrient supply where more than one manure application had been made to a field during the same cropping year
• Calculation of the economic value (£/ha) of a manure application
• Conversion of laboratory dry matter nutrient analyses to a fresh weight applied basis
• Information on additional manure types (e.g. duck manure, sheep manure and dirty water).

Project Aims:

• To improve the MANNER-NPK user-Interface to make it easier to use
• To update the technical specifications – for example, NVZs regulations

Approach:

ADAS consulted with the project partners and expert testers, and updated the program.  The new version was tested before its release.