How to use this calculator
  1. Default values are provided for grain costs and cost of implementation. These inputs can be changed as required.
  2. Required changes include "Number of Cereal Crops" after chosen rotation and grain yield.
Calculator

Green Manure Settings

$ per Hectare
After Green Manure
Tonnes per Hectare
$ per Hectare
$ per Tonne

Break Crop Comparison

Tonnes per Hectare
$ per Hectare
$ per Hectare
After Break Crop
Tonnes per Hectare
$ per Hectare
$ per Tonne
Background

Green manuring is seen as a management option to improve the soil nutrient status for future seasons. Any crop can be used to green manure, but the most common options are legumes as an organic source of nitrogen. Brown manuring can refer to a chemical fallow or a sprayed out or unharvested crop. Whether a paddock is green or brown manured, the long term differences are very minor. No export of product occurs with either method, meaning all nutrients remain in the paddock for breakdown by the soil microbes.

This calculator provides a comparison of relative benefits between a green or brown manure phase and a grain crop within a defined rotational sequence. Results provide an indication of economic costs and benefits based on variable inputs. This calculator assumes the use of a legume crop.