Spreadmark

Spreadmark is a voluntary code of practice that gives farmers and regulators assurance that fertiliser is being spread on the land in the most effective manner possible.

The objective of the spread mark scheme is to ensure that the placement of fertilisers on New Zealand farm land achieves the best agronomic outcome and can be shown to be totally sustainable environmentally. The spreadmark scheme is able to give a clear audit trail from the manufacture to the product being spread on the land.

Fertiliser spreaders are tested across trays to collect and weigh the fertiliser spread across the distance covered by the spreader. This establishes the            co-efficient of variation across the bout width. At present there must be no more than 15% variation for high analysis fertilizers and no greater than 25% variation for all other fertilisers.

All Spreadmark companies are audited within a two year period to ensure that they are compliant with the spread mark code of practice.

Spread mark and the spread mark scheme is managed by the Fertiliser Quality Council, an industry group convened by Federated Farmers and consisting of representatives from

• Federated Farmers of New Zealand
• New Zealand Groundspread Fertilisers Association
• Fertiliser manufacturers
• Independent experts