Three businesses that have partnered to examine the role of the urease inhibitor Limus say that new regulations regarding the usage of urea don’t have to be onerous.

Starting in April, most urea applications in England must be made with an inhibitor to lower ammonia emissions by the new policy ‘option 4,’ which states that ‘inhibited solid and liquid fertilizer containing urea should be used at all other time.’ While many farms may be forced to make modifications as a result of the new regulations, Velcourt sees them as supporting an existing effective strategy.

“Fertilizer is our arable farms’ largest direct cost and a major part of their carbon footprint. Average nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in Velcourt crops in 2023 was 55% but there was a range of 44% between the highest and lowest. There’s both an economic and environmental imperative to do better,” Velcourt Technical Director, Nick Anderson, said, according to a recent BASF press release.

Velcourt’s strategy relies heavily on good integrated nutrition management, which combines precise crop demand assessment, timely and correct application, and utilization of all cutting-edge technologies.

“Limus allows us to capitalize on the carbon footprint and economic benefits of urea fertilizer, whilst mitigating the issues associated with volatilization and ammonia emissions,” Anderson added.

Recently, a variety of technologies and inputs have been tested by the company’s independent trials team, including innovative forms of nitrogen, endophytes, photocatalysts, urease inhibitors, and remote sensing. Velcourt began studies in 2021 in collaboration with COFCO, the distributor of Limus-treated urea. Over two years, four trials revealed that urea treated with Limus is outperforming both untreated and ammonium nitrate (AN) in terms of performance.

“Within an integrated nutrition strategy, Limus treated urea has the potential to reduce our externalities and improve our financial performance. In comparison with untreated urea, it reduces ammonia emissions and air pollution. While in comparison with ammonium nitrate, Limus treated urea lowers the carbon footprint of the crops we’re producing and is cheaper per kg of nutrient, improving gross margins,” Anderson mentioned.

Adrian Whitehead is a farm manager for Velcourt who oversees property in the Norfolk region of Kings Lynn. Six farms make up the 1,400 ha total. The soils vary from light to heavy, and like Velcourt, many of the landowners are concerned about reducing the negative effects that their operations have on the environment. Of the whole, about 660 hectares of potatoes are under management.

“Two years ago, I looked at the trial results and couldn’t see why we wouldn’t be using Limus-treated urea – it fits both financially and environmentally with what we’re trying to achieve. It’s as effective as ammonium nitrate and cheaper. While the regulations allow uninhibited solid urea applications between 15th January and 31st March, the last two years we’ve had temperatures above 20C in March and April which means there will be volatilization. If we can reduce that risk, why wouldn’t we?” ,” Whitehead declared.

Each year when a new batch of fertilizer arrives, Whitehead conducts a tray test to ensure an even spread at application.

“Spread pattern is really important, not least because my phone soon starts ringing if there’s a yellow or light green stripe across one of the fields. Last week, we tested COFCO’s Limus treated urea at 36m spreading and found that it had an excellent Coefficient of Variation of below 10% – the same as UK ammonium nitrate,” he said.