RB209 review: Main findings and next steps

Recent review findings will help the AHDB Nutrient Management Guide (RB209) maintain its independent position as the standard for nutrient management guidance. Amanda Bennett discusses the priorities and the next steps.

Strategic review

Last year, over 900 people took part in a strategic review of RB209, which included a series of questionnaires and targeted stakeholder interviews. The feedback revealed what RB209 does well and the current challenges for nutrient management.

The research ideas letterbox, which was developed by AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds, also generated many leads for AHDB investment, with nutrition being the most frequently cited topic (based on several hundred responses).

Over the winter, the UK Crop Nutrient Management Partnership and the dedicated RB209 review steering committee have analysed the feedback and identified the top priorities.

We are now planning how to improve nutrient management guidance and its interpretation to help farmers tailor nutrients for their specific situations.

The continued success of RB209 is likely to require a fundamental shift in the way nutrient management evidence is generated and how recommendations are implemented on the farm.

The diversity of crops considered by RB209 and the complexity of UK farming systems mean collaborative partnerships will need strengthening to fund and deliver research, as well as to translate findings into practice.

Improve nutrient use efficiency (highest priority)

Improving nutrient use efficiency was identified as the highest-priority work area.

Production cost pressures mean that it is increasingly important to make every gram of nutrient pay for itself (in terms of yield and quality).

As nutrient use efficiency involves many nutrient management components, this tough nut will only be cracked through effective collaboration.

The initial priorities will be to agree a common language and to define the contribution of the many routes to nutrient use efficiency, including nutrient availability (from soils and organic materials) and nutrient inputs (such as tailoring nutrition via crop measurements, precision technologies and novel materials).

Although the potential role of genetics must not be overlooked, the latest review of the Recommended Lists for cereals and oilseeds (RL) identified that current varieties do not vary greatly in nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). For now, a key debate is how to measure NUE and track traits through the variety pipeline – from plant breeder selection of lines to variety trials – to improve varietal performance.

However, the greatest NUE benefits will come from good agronomic practice. As a result, we will continue to promote field-based demonstrations and on-farm meetings that trigger debate about how to tailor nutrient management across the UK.

Support nutrient management plans

With legal requirements and payment opportunities supporting their use, many agricultural holdings now use a nutrient management plan. There is an opportunity to increase the quality and uptake of structured approaches to nutrient management planning.

It is important that RB209 makes it easy to understand, use and complete such plans (no matter the format) to unlock direct productivity benefits to farm businesses.

The review also identified a move towards dynamic (rather than static) nutrient management plans, which respond to in-season information to guide adjustments to nutrient applications.

Nutrient management guidance needs to be sufficiently flexible to account for growing-season nuances. This is now even more important as the climate becomes increasingly unpredictable.

Management of nutrients across rotations

The review also highlighted the need to consider farm nutrient balances (budgets) across diverse rotations. This requires a good understanding of all nutrients that enter and leave the system (whether it be through crop offtakes or losses to the environment).

In terms of offtakes, grain nutrient analyses have great potential, but there is a need to strengthen the evidence to support their use.

In terms of inputs, greater precision about nutrient values (total and available) from organic materials is required. This applies to traditional organic materials, such as manures and slurries, as well as from fresh materials, such as cover crops, companion crops and mulches.

We have already taken steps to improve resources on organic materials. For example, the first nutrient management research project commissioned since the RB209 review investigates nutrient release from cover crops.

We have also just published an online tool that calculates the nutrient and monetary value of various organic materials in specific situations.

Improve data for grass and forage crops

The extensive changes to grassland systems in recent years have outpaced updates to RB209 Section 3.

The review identified a clear need to sense-check the current guidance for grass and forage crops and determine the research required to fill the most critical knowledge gaps.

Ensure RB209 provides value

RB209’s purpose is to help people make the most of organic materials and balance the benefits of fertiliser use against the costs. However, RB209 is still too frequently considered a compliance document.

When AHDB first published RB209 in 2017, we focused the guidance on productivity benefits. The review’s findings confirmed that this remains appropriate and that all future work should align with RB209’s productivity commitment.

The review also confirmed that it is important to invest in both the electronic (PDF) and printed RB209 formats, with the latter a critical resource for FACTS training.

We will also explore ways to help people navigate nutrient management guidance. This includes reviewing RB209’s layout and considering how to provide supplementary information to put RB209 guidance in practical context (such as via the use of more photographs, videos and web pages).

We also need to continue to support and improve the RB209 RB209 application programming interface (API), which lets third parties use RB209 data, features and functionality to create nutrient management software (via a licence agreement). We will work more closely with software providers to increase recognition of the underpinning RB209 data in any commercial applications.

Although it is not a current priority, we are keeping options open about the development of a dedicated RB209 app.

Other areas

The RB209 review identified many other areas to consider. For example, to:

• Collaborate with key stakeholders to facilitate updates outside of the scope of the AHDB levies, such as those who represent horticultural, potato, pulse and sugar beet crops
• Invest in guidance to help farmers monitor, maintain and improve soil health (soil is the foundation of good nutrient management)
• Consider how to improve micronutrient guidance
• Review and update guidance on maize (for forage or anaerobic digestion)