Carl Fuchsbichler of Koorda with local Summit Area Manager, Brenna Gray, in a very healthy crop of Berkshire triticale

Summit MAPSZC is a premium cropping fertilizer with a reputation for exceptional handling characteristics. With more sulphur than MAP along with zinc, copper and manganese compounded into every granule, it has become the foundation starter fertilizer for Carl Fuchsbichler.

The Fuchsbichler’s have a 9,000 ha cropping program north of Koorda and have been putting MAPSZC down with the seed.

Their farm's soil types vary across properties from acid sands to good duplex country, heavy clays, sodic soils and the cream is probably their sand over gravel and red loams.

Carl explained, it’s on the red country where zinc is needed most. “Our red loams can be very productive, because even though we’re dealing with low rainfall out here, given a bit of moisture they wet-up easily. Knowing how the loam and the good sand plain country responds to sulphur and nitrogen, MAPSZC with zinc in the compound was a good fit.

“We’ve used MAPSZC for the last three seasons. With zinc at 0.4%, when we go in with 50kg/ha the crop gets 0.2kg/ha, which is perfect for what we want to go down with the seed, knowing there’s a zinc coating on the seed as well.

“Zinc goes on a little bit at a time; on the seed, in the fertilizer and then we go back with 200mL/ha of zinc oxide with the bromoxynil to reduce some of the herbicide bleaching that can happen.

“MAPSZC has very good levels of P. 50 kg/ha will give us about 10 units of P and 6 units of N. The crops get an extra 20 units of N from urea down the tube, so the N’s banded and the P is sown with the seed. Follow up post emergent N ranges between 15 and 25 units.”

Carl said potassium is also important and they spread MOP prior to sowing.

“That way we can just focus on the N later in the season,” he said. “Sowing 9,000 ha, the truck can’t be everywhere, so getting the MOP out first enables the spreader to do pretty much straight N after seeding."

Costs associated with fertilizer cartage, handling and storage all mount up when you farm out at Koorda. Carl said highly concentrated fertilizers like MAPSZC help reduce these costs. As a novel storage solution, he has even stored some of his MAPSZC in grain silos.

"It actually holds together really well despite being augered into the silo, augered out and then into the seeding equipment. As a way of better filling the silo's were looking at investing in a belt elevator. MAPSZC stays together and we've found when augered it hasn’t broken down too much.

"It will flow out of a silo because there is very little dust in it. That way we are getting two uses out of the silos rather than have them sit empty. MAPSZC is good because it’s not too corrosive."