Summit Fertilizers Northern Region Manager, Wayne Foot (left), Summit Area Manager Juliet McDonald (centre) with Jordan White of Coorow (right) during harvest. MAXamFLO was an important part of the program Jordan was involved in last season, producing excellent results.

Most liquid nitrogen is supplied to WA crops in the form of UAN, however MAXamFLO from Summit Fertilizers offers a very cost-effective source of nitrogen, along with a valuable amount of sulphur.

Summit MAXamFLO contains 6.2% w/w sulphur and 22% w/w nitrogen, making it an ideal liquid option in situations where both nitrogen and sulphur are required.

Sulphur nutrition in plants is closely linked to nitrogen. Both are mobile in the plant and soil, their application timing is similar and they both need to be available early as a foundation for good crop establishment.

Not all crops require the same amount of sulphur though. Cereals typically have a nitrogen:sulphur (N:S) ratio of 15:1, whereas canola has an N:S ratio of 7:1.

Hence, canola has roughly twice the sulphur requirement of cereals, which is why growers should have a plan in place that supplies those needs.

How much total sulphur is required will be determined by potential yield and the use-efficiency of the nutrients. In cereals at high use efficiency, roughly 30kg of N and 2kg of S is required to grow each tonne of grain. When budgeting for canola, about 55kg of N and about 8kg of S is needed to produce a tonne of grain.

Growers need to keep in mind however that there will always be some losses in any system, and that a deficiency of sulphur will limit the response to any applied nitrogen. According to Summit Fertilizers Northern Regional Manager, Wayne Foot, MAXamFLO will be an effective option in many situations and as with UAN, is ideal for use in pre and post-emergent applications.

As a liquid fertilizer, MAXamFLO can offer handling and storage advantages over sulphur-rich granular products such as UreaPlus and sulphate of ammonia. It is also physically compatible with a range of agricultural herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides.

We have carried out compatibility testing (the ability of a pesticide to physically mix with a liquid fertilizer and be used through standard boom sprays) for both MAXamFLO and UAN. The results and recommendations on use are available here.

Growers will find MAXamFLO is a very price competitive product. On farm pricing this year has resulted in growers getting their nitrogen in MAXamFLO for a similar price per unit as in UAN. The sulphur comes as a very welcome bonus.

Growers should contact their local Area Manager to discuss just how well MAXamFLO stacks up against UAN this season.

Easy to Use Fertilizer Calculators

As MAXamFLO and UAN are sold by weight and generally used by volume, converting between tonnes and litres (or vice versa) is often required when budgeting for and using liquid fertilizers. Taking this into account, we have developed a series of easy-to-use fertilizer calculators. Our calculators make answering questions, such as those below a breeze!

• How many litres are there per tonne of UAN or MAXamFLO?
• How much Urea, UAN or MAXamFLO do I need to apply to meet my target N rate?
• How much liquid fertilizer will I use at a set application rate and paddock size?

Find the answers here!