Where to now with slurry?

bob charles

Dont know how the rest of you guys and dolls are getting on but I have spread literally nothing during the latest extension. managed to get 4 loads out in the last few weeks where the slurry was up through the slats. Ground saturated again yesterday beyond travel and under the code of good practice you shouldnt be spreading. Reckon I have about 40% storage for the closed period. Im on dry land so there are people going to be away worse than me farming wet land. Think we are going to just adopt a policy of spread when we can even during the closed period as wont have any other option even though all laws are being broken. I have storage for around 24 weeks so I have 6 - 8 weeks over requirements but have spread nothing worth while since most of the cattle were housed in September

kevthegaff

bob charles wrote: »

Dont know how the rest of you guys and dolls are getting on but I have spread literally nothing during the latest extension. managed to get 4 loads out in the last few weeks where the slurry was up through the slats. Ground saturated again yesterday beyond travel and under the code of good practice you shouldnt be spreading. Reckon I have about 40% storage for the closed period. Im on dry land so there are people going to be away worse than me farming wet land. Think we are going to just adopt a policy of spread when we can even during the closed period as wont have any other option even though all laws are being broken. I have storage for around 24 weeks so I have 6 - 8 weeks over requirements but have spread nothing worth while since most of the cattle were housed in September

I'm sick of rain and slurry:(

whelan1

kevthegaff wrote: »

I'm sick of rain and slurry:(

thats a helpful reply:D

49801

any neighbors with empty slatted units that you could truck it too?

whelan1

has anyone spoken to the department on this, what is the story?

freedominacup

49801 wrote: »

any neighbors with empty slatted units that you could truck it too?

Slurry has a value no doubt but handling it more than once will erode that value fairly quickly.

blue5000

I reckon the more we moan about it the more likely we'll be made build more storage capacity. AFAIK Denmark has 9 months storage:(

Muckit

umblicial system all day today!?? Or a tanker with a rain gun and shot it in over a hedge!!

freedominacup

Muckit wrote: »

umblicial system all day today!?? Or a tanker with a rain gun and shot it in over a hedge!!

How do they work with slurry from slatted tanks. I remember when they first appeared there was a bit of trouble having slurry well enough agitated and watery enough at times.

iverjohnston

If you cannot travel, you cannot travel. As far as I know, in Northern Ireland spreading is permitted at any time during the winter, AS LONG as you adhere to the sensible rules of not spreading during/before rain etc. With the way the seasons are merging into each other lately, a rigid adherence to "farming by the calender" becomes more impractical. I submitted to the Dept a request to avail of the extended spreading period up to the 15nt November, but it has been even wetter since I sent the letter, so none out. If next week, or the one after that, were to be much dryer, and the ground became passable, I would have to get it out no matter what. Iver.

bob charles

Muckit wrote: »

umblicial system all day today!?? Or a tanker with a rain gun and shot it in over a hedge!!

if went the umblicial route I would end up with twice as much slurry as I started out with as the slurry is so thick. Havnt enough road frontage for rain gunning. nice single girls with a dowry of good road frontage could become very attractive as the winter progresses

Rovi

Is the rain gun method even legal any more?
I have a vague remembrance of it being legislated for a few years ago, can anyone confirm/deny this?

bbam

blue5000 wrote: »

AFAIK Denmark has 9 months storage:(

But the shipping costs would be brutal :rolleyes:

Rovi

Rovi wrote: »

Is the rain gun method even legal any more?
I have a vague remembrance of it being legislated for a few years ago, can anyone confirm/deny this?

Here we go, S.I. No. 378/2006 — European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2006, Section 18 (4) Requirements as to manner of application of fertilisers, soiled water etc:

Organic fertilisers or soiled water shall not be applied to land -

(a) by use of an umbilical system with an upward-facing splashplate,

(b) by use of a tanker with an upward-facing splashplate,

(c) by use of a sludge irrigator mounted on a tanker, or

(d) from a road or passageway adjacent to the land irrespective of whether or not the road or passageway is within or outside the curtilage of the holding.

"Sludge irrigator" is legalese for "rain gun".

td5man

bbam wrote: »

But the shipping costs would be brutal :rolleyes:

Wouldnt be surprised if that happened

Muckit

Don't mind me, I've seen neither method in the flesh. Youtube how are ya!

I think the umblicial band spread system would be good job if a lad could get a contractor with it. Even if they had to be pumped from ferry tankers for land away from the yard. Only the weight of a tractor and lift mounted band spreader on the land

V common up north. Seen one on the road up around meath about a month ago.

mf240

I have one dry field that has got so much slurry this year that i think the telephone pole thats in the middle of it going to start growing leaves:D

F.D

Can i ask how much slurry did ye spread last spring or after silage, or was grass growth / weather conditions a problem then?
i know there is no other option but its a pity to be spreading the bulk of it now when you cant get the benifit of it with the price of fertilizer

mf240

F.D wrote: »

Can i ask how much slurry did ye spread last spring or after silage, or was grass growth / weather conditions a problem then?
i know there is no other option but its a pity to be spreading the bulk of it now when you cant get the benifit of it with the price of fertilizer

Empytied tanks completly between spring and after silage but cows spent so much time housed that tanks filled back up again

bob charles

F.D wrote: »

Can i ask how much slurry did ye spread last spring or after silage, or was grass growth / weather conditions a problem then?
i know there is no other option but its a pity to be spreading the bulk of it now when you cant get the benifit of it with the price of fertilizer

having the majority of the animals in since the 1st of Sept means the slurry production is in full flow hence the problems. think I have only spread around 100k gallons since that date. Neighbouring farm has 500k sitting in store

Cavanjack

A lot of lads round here were sending lorry loads of it down to tillage farmers in Meath for maize a few years ago.

Juniorhurler

Luckily our home block is dry land so we emptied in early October, but we also emptied yesterday again to be sure. The tanks were about 1/3 full again. We are o.k til January now easily. I feel for those of you who could not get out with it. If the weather is favourable the dept. will have to at least turn a blind eye to lads breaking the rules.

freedominacup

I know this is f-all good to you Bob but what you want is real rain and really dry ground. We bought cows on a farm inside the Cork city borough boundary. Yard about 250-300m from the Lee. The time they had all that trouble with the dam in Inniscara a few years ago the herdsman went to investigate the strange sound coming from the bottom of the yard when he went into work the following morning. It was still dark so no visual clues. The sound was the river washing up against the walls at the edge of the yard a few more inches of water and they'd have had real problems. All of the slurry stores at the edge of the yard were well cleaned out at this stage. The land is so dry that the remainder of the stores were emptied in a more conventional manner within a week of the flood subsiding.

AntrimGlens

We used a contractor with an umbilical this year two days before the deadline and spread the three tanks that we have in five hours, whereas it normally takes us two full days to empty one of the tanks with a 1200 gallon tanker. In fairness i had the tractor on the pump for two days before the contractor arrived and made sure it was good and thin as blockages would severely increase time spent spreading. We have maybe thirty acres in five fields around the yard and a coulple of them are right and steep and the ground was fairly wet when spreading, but needs must an all that... you wouldn't even have seen the marks of the tractor and reel once he had finished whereas i only managed to get into one of the fields twice with the tanker and you can still see the ruts lying full of water. I know what method i'll be using in the future @£;65 quid an hour for 2 tractors, reel, compressor and he even brought his own pump in case we needed it. I know its maybe not as flexible as spreading your own but it was a saviour this year...

bob charles

presume there is going to be not movement on the deadline this time round. They said to the 16 of November, I presume that allows for spreading tomorrow

yellow50HX

neighbour of mine has decided that he is going to go back to putting in a bit of tillage on his farm. He has a few feilds that are away a bit from the yard so were always aquward to get cows to and from so has had dry stock there for the last few years. After this years problems with slurry he is going to plough them in and set barley in them again.
Plan is that he will have his own straw and will look to keep the barly for feeding (depending on market) and have somewhere to spread slurry if the grass is too wet.

He was lucky this year the tanks were full by the end of august (he hadnt fully emtpied them in spring to hold some back for after the silage) he spread what he could but still needed to have grass for the cows so a local tillage farmer took a the rest off him to plough in for winter barly.

He sat down last week and weighed up the pro's and cons and even with a another awful year for corn he reckons it'll benifit him. As he said it couldnt be worse then this year.