GrowHow

Focusing on quality, reliability and best practice

GrowHow UK Limited is the UK’s premier fertiliser manufacturer and a major supplier of process chemicals and utilities.

At the heart of the business are three key drivers:

  • Technical excellence
  • Social and environmental responsibility
  • Innovation and product development

The result:

  • High quality products
  • Professional technical advice
  • Reliable services

This means GrowHow UK is committed to British agriculture making investment in production capacity and Advice and Services fundamental to the company’s success. Fertilisers must be used accurately and at optimum rates. Over application means farmers waste money and can have a negative environmental impact.

When fertilisers are used efficiently the benefits are immense:

  • Crop and grass yields can be increased
  • P and K indices are maintained at levels which support healthy growth
  • Reduced Nitrogen or Sulphur is at risk of leaching into the environment

As the UK’s only manufacturer of straight Nitrogen, Nitrogen/Sulphur and quality True Granular Compounds - as well as the leading advocate for fertiliser Advice and Services - GrowHow UK is at the heart of British agriculture.

GrowHow Advice

Delivering the best returns from fertiliser inputs

GrowHow UK is spearheading the drive towards greater efficiency in nutrient use by providing a comprehensive range of Advice and Services to help farmers target their fertilisers more effectively.

In addition, GrowHow runs an impressive research and development programme challenging current agronomic practices and exploring the science behind fertiliser applications so that GrowHow Advice and recommendations can be continuously improved.

Calculating the optimum Nitrogen application has now become increasingly scientific and GrowHow is investing in research and new technology to provide robust services. These include everything from basic soil sampling for P, K, pH and Mg through to N-Min®, N Calculator and EnCompass®.

  • The GrowHow N-Min Service is a unique and exclusive Nitrogen testing service available to GrowHow customers. It has been specially developed to provide an accurate measure of the amount of Nitrogen in the soil at sampling as well as an estimate of the amount of Nitrogen that will become available over the growing season.
  • The EnCompass nutrient planning program has been designed in-house working closely with the Environment Agency. It is a tool for FACTS qualified Advisers.

It produces accurate fertiliser recommendations by gathering all the relevant information for individual fields and importantly allows Advisers to add their knowledge and local expertise before recommendations are produced.

N-Min® & N-Calc

Optimum crop performance, lower environmental impact

  • Maximises crop yield and quality by targeting inputs to plant requirements and crop potential
  • Generates accurate field and farm records for Management Plans, Cross Compliance, Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs), Traceability, Crop Assurance and Environmental Stewardship schemes
  • Provides detailed field operator sheets so that the spreader operator knows exactly what needs to be applied, where and when
  • Is recognised and reviewed annually by the Environment Agency

Modules are also available to create NVZ Compliance Reports, Manure Management Plans or Risk Assessment for Scotland.

When a crop has access to optimum amounts of Nitrogen, potentially yields could be doubled.

Optimise is the key word. Applying too much causes lodging, wastes money and leaves Nitrogen in the soil where it is at risk of leaching. Applying too little, means lost yield and quality premiums. The Nitrogen requirement of different crops and varieties are relatively well understood. However, the biggest unknown is how much Nitrogen the crop will be able to source from the soil. This varies from season to season and farm to farm; often significantly.

To accurately assess the extent of the Soil Nitrogen Reservoir, GrowHow has developed the N-Min service.

A Unique Service

GrowHow N-Min measures the amount of Nitrogen in the soil at the time of sampling and uniquely provides a very accurate estimate of the amount of Nitrogen that will become available to the crop over the growing season.

Using the N-Min results, GrowHow Advisers and Distributor Fieldsmen® can work out precisely how much bagged Nitrogen will be required by using the GrowHow online N Calculator.

Four Factors Impact N Rates

New research, conducted by ADAS for GrowHow, has shown that there are four key influencers on fertiliser requirements:

  • Crop yield potential
  • Soil type/texture
  • Crop Nitrogen
  • The amount of Nitrogen in the soil; ideally measured by GrowHow N-Min

EnCompass®

Comprehensive crop nutrition planning and recording service

EnCompass is a comprehensive software program that generates accurate crop nutrition plans and field records.

As well as producing field-specific Nitrogen recommendations, the software can also take account of Sulphur requirements and balances P and K off-takes or builds reserves. The fertiliser value of manures, slurries and other organic inputs can also be included in the calculations.

Nitrogen recommendations are based on RB209/SAC Technical Notes and refined using the GrowHow N Calculator and N-Min® service.

EnCompass:

  • Maximises crop yield and quality by targeting inputs to plant requirements and crop potential
  • Generates accurate field and farm records for Management Plans, Cross Compliance, Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs), Traceability, Crop Assurance and Environmental Stewardship schemes
  • Provides detailed field operator sheets so that the spreader operator knows exactly what needs to be applied, where and when
  • Is recognised and reviewed annually by the Environment Agency

Modules are also available to create NVZ Compliance Reports, Manure Management Plans or Risk Assessment for Scotland.