Fertiliser is a vital nutrient for growing healthy forage and crops, but it produces nitrous oxide (N2O) – a major source of on-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Though produced in much smaller quantities than methane, the gas has a global warming effect nearly three hundred times that of CO2.

Nitrous oxide is given off by agricultural soils through activities such as spreading manure, applying synthetic fertilisers and ploughing. Providing farmers with the tools they need to manage nitrogen is therefore a key part of programmes to cut the environmental footprint of all farms.

Effective slurry management, though hardly glamorous, can have a big impact on lowering a farm’s GHG emissions, as can soil management and precise fertiliser application.