For potassium, sales amounted to 26 500 tonnes. The fertilisers sold contained 27 000 tonnes of sulphur.

The data is collected from manufacturers, importers and trading companies of fertilisers.

The results can sometimes vary between years depending on stock changes at the farms, expected price changes or changes in taxes and charges. In such cases, the results do not reflect actual use. Normally, high price levels for crop outputs increase the optimal nitrogen level. The cultivation of winter wheat, sown in autumn, reached record highs in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16. Autumn sown crops have a higher need for fertiliser, especially nitrogen, than spring sown crops. This may be one of the main reasons for the increase in sales in the past three years.

Farmers’ fertiliser application rates vary according to soil type, season, crop variety, farm policy, and more. More detailed information on the use and handling of fertilisers, based on interviews with farmers, is published intermittently. Data for 2015/16 will be published in June 2017 in the report “Use of fertilisers and animal manure in agriculture in 2015/16” (MI 30 SM 1702).

A more detailed Statistical Report is available at www.scb.se/MI1002. 

Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Statistics Sweden as the source.

The next publication in this series is scheduled for publishing in April 2018.