Getting Ready for 190 Nitrogen Cap Reporting
Reports
With new nitrogen limits on farm, recording both your fertiliser and land use is vital for compliance. Get ready for reporting by utilising HawkEye.
The190kg N/ha/yr cap applies to all grazed pastoral land from 1 July to 30 June the following year. The rule applies to all farms 20 hectares or larger though only dairy farmers were required to report starting from the 2021/22 year. The cap applies to all synthetic nitrogen fertilisers where the dry weight is more than 5% nitrogen.
By 31 July each year, all dairy farmers will need to report their nitrogen fertiliser use to their local regional council for each contiguous landholding. Any contiguous land to the dairy, whether used as part of the platform or not, will also need to be reported on.
Steps to prepare for reporting
- Ensure your farm map is accurate. If you don't have a farm map in HawkEye you can draw your own or we can upload an existing map from file. You can also edit your existing map in HawkEye if you need to change any paddock boundaries.
- Record all nitrogen fertiliser applications. HawkEye can accept spread data from Tabula and Precision Farming enabled spreaders, and from C-Dax controllers. You can also record fertiliser manually by creating your own fertiliser activities.
- Monitor your nitrogen applications using the N190 heatmap.
- Make a note of your land use on farm and the time periods it was in this use for. The list below shows what uses will need to be reported on:
- Pasture
- Cut and carry crops such as silage and hay
- Forage Crops
- Harvest Crops. Make a note if the crops were grazed or not.
- Ungrazed land such as tree blocks, laneways and dairy sheds.
After recording the above information, you can now use HawkEye to record this information and create your nitrogen report for council.
Want to learn more? Read the nitrogen cap guidelines for dairy here or use the following links for updates from your local regional council.