It’s a sticky subject that can have farmers reaching for the smelling salts – how to get the best from their manure.

Young technology developers at agricultural school Duchy College, however, believe they have developed a solution that will allow farmers to get to the bottom of it.

The students at the Rural Business School of the college, which has sites at Rosewarne and Stoke Climsland, have created a mobile phone app, which is designed to help farmers and growers value the nutrients found in manures.

The app, officially called the Farm Manure Management Application but often referred to by its more earthy nickname the “FarmCrapApp”, has now been nominated for an award with the Soil Association. It has been developed by the SWARM Knowledge Hub, a project run by the Rural Business School at Duchy College.

The app, which has been created in collaboration with Rothamsted Research North Wyke, allows the farming community to appreciate the nutritive and economic value of livestock manures.

It provides farmers with an opportunity to visually assess manure and slurry application rates and to calculate what is being provided in terms of available nutrients, as well as giving an estimate of potential savings in purchased artificial fertilisers.

It has been created using nutrient values found in Defra’s RB209 Fertiliser Manual along with the industry produced publication Think Manures.

The app contains three features: a calculator, an image library and record sheets. The calculator determines the amount of crop available nutrients that are found within manures spread at different rates, helping with decisions on how much to spread in order to meet the crop requirements and also what this looks like.

Dr Stephen Roderick, project manager at Duchy College Rural Business School, said: “We’ve already received over 500 downloads, for an app that we feel can make a real difference for farmers. “Technology, like this, can make a real difference to the efficiency and overall profitability of farms and with new rules on the use of fertilisers; we hope this app can make a difference.

“The app is free for users to download and use, and it doesn’t need a mobile signal to work as the database is stored on the user’s phone.

The image library can be used as a visual reference guide to estimate the spreading rate of manure applied to the field and calculating the amount of crop available nutrients that have been applied. The app will also keep records of field spreading events which can be emailed to the office computer for inclusion in farm records.

The app, which is available on Apple and Android devices, can be downloaded for free from www.swarmhub.co.uk/fca or from iTunes or Google play stores.