Simon Leverett

Foliar spraying in Wales: how Simon Leverett cut his fertiliser bill by 30%

Simon Leverett farms at Capel Isaac, near Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire. It’s a 150 acre council farm and he’s been there five years, running about 125 cows on a spring calving system, mainly Jerseys and Jersey crosses. It’s a low input, low machinery system, and for the last two seasons Simon has been applying his fertiliser as a foliar spray with a Tow and Fert Multi 500.

Before that it was prills, applied by a contractor.

“That wasn’t really working for us. We wanted it in our control,” Simon says. “I looked into it and understood it was going to reduce my fertiliser bill. So away we went.”

It has. Simon used to buy in around 30 tonnes of fertiliser a year. The last two seasons he’s been closer to 20.

“That’s a decent reduction.”

The bigger surprise was what else went. Foliar fertiliser applied with the Multi 500 meant Simon no longer needed a tractor on the place.

“It’s allowed us to get rid of the tractor, so I can keep a real low machinery system. We just have the quad and a skid steer now.”

Anyone who’s stood in a yard watching the sky, wondering whether to spread and hope it rains, will know the other benefit.

“You’re not trying to find that weather window. You’re not thinking, should I put the fert out and hope it rains tomorrow? On a day like this you can get it out and it’s set. I’m not worried I’m going to lose my fertiliser down the ditch.”

That control over timing has flowed through to the pasture. Simon has seen better grass quality, more clover in the sward, and it’s helped look after the herbal leys.

“We were on a dung beetle project last year, and I think we had one of the highest levels of dung beetles here. It’s hard to quantify, but you certainly feel there’s more life in the farm.”

His mix has evolved. Year one was urea and molasses. Now there’s fine lime going through, a bag in every run, plus a bit of sulphur. Plantain, chicory and clover seed go through the machine regularly too. Next he wants to get his head around biologicals.

The numbers stack up.

“When I bought it we put it on finance, and the finance is by far less than what I’m saving in fertiliser. Within a year I’ve got extra cash in the bank, effectively. By the time it’s paid off, another year’s time, I’ll be winning out totally without a finance bill. The saving on the contractor alone would have pretty much paid for it.”

“There’s a number of benefits. How you actually calculate it, I dunno. But every which way you look at it, there’s a bit of a win.”