Nutrient Management Planning Factsheet

The primary goal of nutrient management planning is to ensure adequate nutrients are supplied to a crop with the least amount of impact on the surrounding natural resources. Prince Edward Island derives all of its drinking water from ground water sources and therefore is very concerned with overuse and inefficient application of nutrients applied to the land. A Nutrient Management Plan is a responsible approach to maintaining and protecting the Island’s drinking water quality, while optimizing nutrient use efficiency for crops on farm.

Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans can vary in appearance and format, but each plan must contain the following key components:

• Individual GIS aerial maps outlining field boundaries for all fields cropped on farm (including cropped rented land, if applicable)
• Property identification numbers and provincial field identification numbers associated with each field
• General farm information, including any environmental considerations, number of livestock and/or manure production information if applicable, total cropped acreage, etc.
• Crop rotations for all fields for a minimum of three years, including fertility recommendations for each year (including application rates and timing of fertilizers and/or organic amendments, tillage type/timing and if applicable, use of glyphosate, for forage plowdowns, lime application rates, and predicted crop yields and crop removal rates for all fields)
• Soil analyses for each field dated within 3 years or length of rotation, whichever is less
• Nutrient content analyses of any organic amendments used, dated within 4 years
• Calibration certificates for any fertilization equipment used, if applicable

There are a number of people in PEI who are qualified to create nutrient management plans. Please contact the Nutrient Management specialist at (902) 316-1600 for more information.