When it comes to mineral fertilizers, it’s not just the ingredients that count, but also the product quality. Proper storage of the fertilizer is essential to maintain its quality. Check off the most important points on this checklist in order to start the 2021 fertilizing season properly.
Winter is a good time to tidy up the mineral fertilizer store and replenish supplies. Nobody wants moist, lumpy fertilizer or a colorful mix of different grain sizes.
With this checklist we give a total of 15 tips on what to consider in the warehouse and when buying fertilizer.
Put the warehouse in order
Here are six points that you should first pay attention to in the warehouse:
- The warehouse is free from dirt, fertilizer residues and moisture.
- The warehouse can be shielded from heat, daylight and gusts of wind.
- The bearing is free from corrosion and damage.
- Different fertilizers can be stored separately from each other.
- Flammable substances, acids or pesticides are not kept in the same warehouse.
- Unauthorized persons have no access.
Keep your eyes open when buying mineral fertilizers
You should consider the following three points when buying fertilizer:
Be careful when storing
- The fertilizer is clean and properly declared.
- There are no lumps or changes in consistency.
- The grains are checked for grain hardness and size distribution using a shaker box or grain hardness tester.
You should pay attention to these three points when storing the fertilizer:
- The fertilizer does not come into contact with moisture during loading and transport.
- There is no segregation if spilled.
- Crushing and grinding the grains is avoided.
This is how mixing and spreading work
Before mixing and spreading the fertilizer, there are three things to consider:
- Before mixing different fertilizers, the chemical suitability is checked. Not all substances are compatible with each other. Caution is advised with ammonium nitrate, sulfur and urea, for example.
- When mixing, attention is paid to the smallest possible size differences in the grains
- The fertilizer spreader is set to match the grain size.
Use the free checklist for storing mineral fertilizers from agrarheute and go through the individual points. You also have space in the checklist to tick off the individual points.