4R Explainer
4R Nutrient Stewardship (Right Source @ Right Rate, Right Time, Right Place®) lets the world know when food has been sustainably grown.
What are the 4R Principles?
The 4R Nutrient Stewardship principles – Right Source @ Right Rate, Right Time, Right Place® – provide a science-based framework for sustainable fertilizer use. By applying nutrients efficiently and responsibly, farmers can optimize crop yields, protect the environment, and support long-term soil health. Explore each principle to understand how the 4Rs contribute to sustainable agriculture.
Right Source
- Select the correct source of nutrient for your soil ensuring a balanced supply of essential plant nutrients including granular or liquid fertilizers or manures.
Right Time
- Avoid fertilizer or manure application on snow or frozen soils.
- Carry out nutrient management planning on an annual basis.
Right Rate
- Consider the availability of nutrients from all sources (eg. livestock manures, commercial fertilizers and atmospheric nitrogen fixed by legumes).
- Perform annual soil testing.
- Apply nutrients to meet crop requirements while accounting for the nutrients already in the soil.
- Calibrate application equipment to deliver target rates.
Right Place
- Respect recommended setback distances for nutrient application near waterways.
- Place nutrients below the soil surface where they can be taken up by growing roots when needed.
Benefits of using 4R Nutrient Stewardship
Improve Agricultural Productivity:
- Optimizing nutrient management is simply good business in dealing with fluctuations in prices of fertilizers and other inputs, as well as in process of crops sold.
- Higher crop yields are well documented with better crop and soil management.
- Improving fertilizer efficiency increases the quantity produced per acre for each unit of nutrient applied, without sacrificing yield potential.
Minimize Impact to the Environment:
- Adopting nutrient stewardship contributes to the preservation of natural ecosystems by growing more on less land.
- Retaining nutrients within a field’s boundaries and in the crop rooting zone greatly reduces the amount that is not utilized by plants and thereby escapes into the environment as pollution.
