Lechner Hop Farm: Advantages brought by Agrocote^®

Hop Trial in Germany

In the year 2023, ICL conducted a trial with the Agrocote® controlled-release fertilizer 44-0-0 on a hop farm in Ilmendorf, near Ingolstadt/Hallertau. The trial compared the usual practice with calcium ammonium nitrate to two variants of Agrocote® with a duration of 2-3 months. One variant contained 80% nitrogen rate, while the other contained 100% nitrogen.

Fighting weather challenges

Christoph Lechner, the hop grower, describes the farm as problematic due to the low water-holding capacity of the soil, which is high in sand, and the irregular rainfall in recent years. “Additionally, we often experience hail or heavy rainfall events, followed by periods of drought during the growing season. To address these issues, we installed irrigation a few years ago.”

“This year was particularly extreme, with prolonged rainfall in the spring. The first fertilizer application worked well, but the second faced issues as there was no rain until August. The fertilizer couldn’t dissolve after the ridges were formed and took a long time to dissolve through irrigation. Here, the advantage of coated fertilizers became evident: with early incorporation of the coated granules, the fertilizer particles could dissolve with the residual moisture from spring and benefit from the irrigation hoses, regardless of weather conditions.”

Benefits of Agrocote®

When asked if fertilization with coated Agrocote® would be an option for the farm, even without a yield increase, Christoph Lechner responded, “Absolutely. We initially applied 10-15 kg less nitrogen, even the 100% variant brings us significant cost advantages compared to our usual fertilization, and with a yield increase of 2%, we would be better off in any case.”