In 2023, CSBP Fertilisers celebrates its centenary of agricultural trials and research in Western Australia. Its history and legacy of innovation has been a valuable contributor to increased productivity for Western Australian growers and the sustained success of the state’s agriculture industry.

CSBP’s innovation continues with the recent introduction of a new product, Urea Sustain, a coated nitrogen fertiliser that provides one of the most important macronutrients for crop production. Urea Sustain has the potential to increase crop yield and contribute to a reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of crop production.

After many seasons of research, development and testing in Western Australian conditions, CSBP was able to bring the new product to market in June 2023.

Urea Sustain is a coated nitrogen fertiliser that enables key nutrients to be more readily absorbed by the plant, by mitigating two ways nitrogen can be lost to the environment – denitrification and volatilisation. In general, the more nitrogen fertiliser the plant absorbs, the less fertiliser required to support crop production and the lower the risk of greenhouse gas emissions from that fertiliser.

Urea Sustain offers broadacre growers greater flexibility as it can be applied to crops well ahead of the standard ‘window of opportunity’ prior to expected rainfall. This helps growers better manage their on-farm logistics and lowers the risk of missing that window.

A CSBP field trial in Three Springs in 2022 demonstrated that relative to conventional urea, Urea Sustain led to an increase in wheat production by approximately 25 per cent and a reduction in value-chain emissions intensity of crop production of approximately 20 per cent.

Further trial work is now underway by the CSBP Field Research team to demonstrate the effectiveness of the product in a range of soil types and geographical regions.

Products like Urea Sustain have the potential to improve emissions intensity of crop production, contributing to the sustainability of Western Australia’s key export-oriented agriculture industry.