Reports
Frequently asked questions regarding the new nitrogen cap rules.
It is a maximum limit of synthetic nitrogen that can be applied to pastoral land as a permitted activity. It only applies to synthetic nitrogen (i.e. the nitrogen content of the synthetic fertiliser whether all nitrogen or as a combination of nutrients) where the dry weight is more than 5% nitrogen. However, where manufactured and biological nitrogen fertilisers are mixed together, and their combined nitrogen content comes to more than 5% of their dry weight, they become synthetic nitrogen fertilisers and are covered by the nitrogen cap.
The 190kg N/ha/yr cap limit applies for each year from 1 July to the following 30 June.
All farms 20 hectares and larger that have any grazed land, regardless of:
Currently only dairy farms must report their nitrogen use to council however the rules still apply to all farm types.
A contiguous landholding is any block of connected land belonging to a farming operation. If a farm has several unconnected blocks, separated by land not belonging to the farm, each block is a separate contiguous landholding. Blocks separated by roads, rail or waterways such as rivers and creeks are still classified as contiguous.
To report your nitrogen usage to council, your landholding needs to be split into land categories. There are two overarching categories, grazed land and ungrazed land. All grazed land on the dairy is subject to the 190kg/ha nitrogen cap. Grazed land is split into three land categories.
Ungrazed land refers to land that is used for purposes other than grazing for all or part of the year. This includes laneways, dairy sheds and ungrazed harvest crops. Nitrogen applied to ungrazed land is not capped and is not included in the average nitrogen calculation for the landholding. Although ungrazed land is not included in the cap, all nitrogen use on the contiguous landholding must be reported.
Paddocks on the farm can be classified in different land categories during the year. For example if a paddock is used for both grazing and silage/baleage/hay, it is classified as pasture when grazed, and as ungrazed land once grazing has stopped until harvest.
When reporting, if a paddock is in forage crop for at any point of the year in conjunction with grazed pasture or grazed harvest crops then the nitrogen applications will all be reported under the grazed forage crop category regardless of land category. Ungrazed land will always remain outside of the grazed land calculations.
Yes, the information required under the legislation is different from the information you supply to your dairy company. Using HawkEye you can easily create the correct reports needed for council.
Your nitrogen use information is due to council by the 31st July for the previous reporting year.
Read more about getting ready for nitrogen cap reporting here.