Guidelines for developing a nutrient management code of practice for your industry, region or farm.
A report of the National Land and Water Resources Audit (Australian Agriculture Assessment 2001) provides an assessment of the losses of nutrients from farming systems. The report identifies the need for a higher level of attention to be paid in Australian agriculture to nutrient status, monitoring and tracking changes in all farming systems.
Nutrients are essential for healthy plant and animal production, and nutrient inputs are often required to enhance productivity. However if nutrients are poorly managed the consequences are very undesirable, both environmentally and economically.
A Nutrient Management Code of Practice can help farming industries to maximise the efficient use of nutrients in their systems, which will in turn:
- minimise environmental impact, and
- increase production efficiency.
Because every industry and every region in Australia is exposed to different nutrient management risks, it would be difficult to prepare a Nutrient Management Code of Practice to suit them all. Instead, Fertilizer Australia has prepared ‘Cracking the Nutrient Code’, a set of guidelines to help individual industries and regions develop their own specific Nutrient Management Codes of Practice.
Through the development of industry or region specific Nutrient Management Codes of Practice, the guidelines promote the use of management practices which result in the best possible production outcomes whilst protecting the environment. Three guiding principles, which form the basis of sustainable nutrient management decisions and practices, are essential components of a Nutrient Management Code of Practice. These are:
- Awareness and Understanding of the Risks
- Employing the Nutrient Management Tools Available
- Adopting a System of Continuous Improvement.
The guidelines benefit from the extensive nutrient management experience within the fertilizer industry and provide you with the tools to develop and implement a Nutrient Management Code of Practice for your industry, region or farm. Input has also been sourced from specialists in environmental management systems, and the guidelines are developed on the basis of the principles of the International Management Systems Standard ISO 14001.
Good luck ‘Cracking the Nutrient Code’
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Cracking the Nutrient Code optimized.pdf