A folding rule measures the height of the grass in a pasture.
The optimum time for spring fertilisation is crucial for increasing nutrient efficiency in grassland. This is because if the nutrients are not available to the plants too early or too late, leaching and yield losses can be reduced.
The developed app ‘When does the grass grow?’ shows the start of sustained grass growth (start of vegetation) via the average corrected grassland temperature sum (kT sum) as well as the current kT sum for locations in Schleswig-Holstein. The app creates a forecast for the duration until the start of vegetation.
The corrected grassland temperature total (kT total) is the sum of the positive daily mean temperatures in °C. The values in January count for half, the values in February for three quarters and from March onwards the values are included in full. The kT sum describes the start of vegetation on the grassland. Depending on the location, this is reached at different kT sums, which can deviate from the 200 °C usually known. Farmers can use this information to optimise the fertilisation time at their respective location. This web app was developed in the ‘Nutrient Management in Grassland’ project, which was funded as part of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP).
https://lksh-grasslands.north.io/