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How much does an NSTS spreader test cost?

How we price a test, what happens on the day, what the report gives you, and what it’s worth.

By Spreadcheck, NSTS testers. Published . 4 minute read.

The short answer

It depends on the spreader’s bout width and how many fertilisers you want tested, plus the NSTS certificate. Contact us for a quote.

  • We price a test by bout width, because wider spreaders need more trays and more time. Two fertilisers are included.
  • Each test includes a machine check, an analysis of your fertiliser, a full-width tray test with trays every metre, adjustment for the best spread, and an NSTS report.
  • Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service reckons a professional test pays for itself over about 12 ha.1
  • For a typical 130 ha arable farm, our calculator puts what a test saves at about £1,590 a year.2

How we price a test

We price fertiliser spreader tests by bout width, because wider spreaders need more trays and more time. Every test includes two fertilisers, each with its own tray test and settings, and each machine needs an NSTS certificate. Contact us for a quote: ring 01785 840 849 or email info@spreadcheck.com, with the spreader, its bout width and the fertilisers you’ll use.

What happens on the test

  1. The machine. An MOT-style check of the spreader, including discs and vanes and the tractor’s PTO speed.
  2. Your fertiliser. We measure its bulk density, crush strength and granule size, because those decide how far it’s thrown.3
  3. The tray test. Trays every metre across the full spread width. We weigh each one, work out the CV at your bout width, and adjust the spreader until the pattern is right for that product.
  4. The report. An NSTS report with the settings, CV, photos and the conditions on the day, emailed to you and uploaded to the NSTS database. Where the first run is poor, it estimates what that was costing you.

That matches what NSTS sets out for a fertiliser spreader test: inspection of the spreader including discs and vanes, tray testing across the working width, adjustment for the best CV for each product, and an electronic report.4 NSTS adds that the fertiliser itself is tested for size, weight and hardness to find the starting settings.5

Checking a test, and who can do one

Every NSTS test is registered with the scheme. You, your assessor or a buyer can check one online by entering the test report number on the NSTS website.6

NSTS examiners hold City & Guilds certificates of competence through NPTC; fertiliser spreader examining is its own certificate, separate from sprayers and pellet applicators.7 NSTS lists its test centres by postcode and machine type.8

What NSTS is

NSTS is the National Sprayer Testing Scheme, run by the Agricultural Engineers Association, which HSE designates to run pesticide equipment inspections.910 Besides sprayers and other pesticide kit, it also offers fertiliser spreader testing.11 The AEA launched a single test protocol for disc, boom and pendulum spreaders in 2015, with examiners holding City & Guilds accreditation.12

We wrote the original qualification for fertiliser spreader and slug pelleter testing that NSTS adopted.

Is it worth the money?

A test is a small cost next to the fertiliser it spreads. The average English cereal farm spent £35,500 on fertiliser in 2024/25,13 and AHDB’s harvest 2027 budgets put fertiliser at about £407 a hectare for feed wheat.14

  • Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service put a 25% CV, which it says is often found before testing, at about £20/ha in wheat and oilseed rape against the 5% a test can achieve, and reckoned a professional test pays for itself over about 12 ha.1
  • Our spreader test calculator uses AHDB’s nitrogen response curves and today’s prices. For a typical 130 ha arable farm with a 24 m spreader, it puts uneven spreading at a 25% CV at about £1,900 a year, against about £310 at 10%: a saving of about £1,590 a year.2

Those figures count lost margin only. They leave out lodging, missed grain specifications and headlands, which add to the case. And they’re estimates: put your own crops, rates and prices into the calculator to see yours.

Booking a test

Most of our tests happen between January and May, so book a few weeks ahead of your first application. Tell us the spreader, the bout width and the fertilisers you’ll use, and have the fertiliser on site on the day. We test all year round, anywhere in the UK.

Other questions people ask

How do I get a price?

Contact us for a quote: ring 01785 840 849 or email info@spreadcheck.com. Tell us the spreader, its bout width and the fertilisers you’ll use.

What if I want more than two fertilisers tested?

Each extra fertiliser is charged on top. Each one gets its own tray test, settings and CV on the report.

Does an NSTS test count for Red Tractor?

Red Tractor asks for fertiliser application equipment to be maintained and calibrated at least once a year, with a record.15 It doesn’t name an NSTS test, but an NSTS report is a dated record of the machine check, the rate and the spread pattern, so it covers the requirement and more. See how often should a spreader be tested?

Do you test sprayers and slug pelleters too?

Yes. We test sprayers, slug pelleters and granular applicators as well as fertiliser spreaders, anywhere in the UK. Slug pellet applicators must be NSTS tested by law, and Red Tractor applies that to fertiliser spreaders used for pellets.1615

About this article

Written by Spreadcheck (Spreader & Sprayer Testing Ltd), an NSTS testing company at Rookery Farm, Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire, which wrote the original qualification for fertiliser spreader and slug pelleter testing that NSTS adopted. We sell testing, so every figure here links to its source, and we say where the evidence is mixed.

Checked on 12 October 2026. Rules, prices and guidance change, so follow the links for the latest.

Sources

  1. Farm Advisory Service (Scotland), Fertilisers and spreader calibration, 2018.
  2. Spreadcheck, Spreader test calculator: method and sources, 2026.
  3. Teagasc (Dermot Forristal), Accurate spreading: six steps you need to take, Today’s Farm, 2023.
  4. NSTS, Fertiliser spreader test, accessed 2026.
  5. NSTS, Fertiliser spreader testing leaflet, 2022.
  6. NSTS, Look up your test details, accessed 2026.
  7. NPTC (City & Guilds), Qualification schemes: NSTS examining certificates of competence, accessed 2026.
  8. NSTS, Find your nearest test centre, accessed 2026.
  9. HSE, Bodies designated to administer equipment inspection, accessed 2026.
  10. Agricultural Engineers Association, NSTS, accessed 2026.
  11. NSTS, About us, accessed 2026.
  12. Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer, AEA to launch National Spreader Testing Scheme, 2015.
  13. Defra, Farm Business Survey: Farm Accounts in England 2024/25, 2026.
  14. AHDB, Analyst insight: will wheat still lead for harvest 2027 gross margins?, 2026.
  15. Red Tractor, Combinable Crops and Sugar Beet Standards, version 5.1, EC.7 and EC.10, February 2025.
  16. legislation.gov.uk, The Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012 (the UK’s “SUD” rules), regulation 12, 2012.