Slurry spreading question

purplegold114

Hi all,

Am not from farming background so wanted to ask the experts, any help is appreciated.

For over the last month I have been getting a strong smell of, what I think is slurry, quite late at night, I mean between 10pm and 12 am. It's doesn't happen every night, maybe 3 nights per week. We are also noticing alot more horse flies around,which I thought was odd for this time of year and I'm thinking the two may be connected.

We live in a small village with fields,farmers and fruit/veg growers around.

My questions:
Is there a slurry spreading season/deadline?
Is there something untoward going on?
Should I be reporting it and what body should I report to?

The smell is quite pungent and I don't remember it being so strong or being around at this time of year.

Thanks in advance.

emaherx

Flies because weather is unusually mild.

Possible slurry like smell? Do you see slurry being spread anywhere?

Could be from a local meat factory? Or sewage treatment? If it is slurry it could be a local farm agitating tanks and or pumping slurry from one tank to another.

If it is someone spreading they shouldn't be, but they can from middle of next month, exact date may vary depending on part of country.

purplegold114

I'm confident it's slurry the smell is that bad. I haven't checked the local fields , but I'm thinking it's been done late at night. I haven't heard any tractors,but I haven't been outside waiting for them either. What should I be looking for during the day if it's happening at night? Do you think it's something I should be concerned about, re pollution etc?

I thought that too about the horse flies but it hasn't been overly warm either.

gozunda

If there is slurry being spread- it's going to be fairly obvious tbh from looking at fields and/or road traffic.

emaherx

purplegold114 wrote: »

I'm confident it's slurry the smell is that bad. I haven't checked the local fields , but I'm thinking it's been done late at night. I haven't heard any tractors,but I haven't been outside waiting for them either. What should I be looking for during the day if it's happening at night? Do you think it's something I should be concerned about, re pollution etc?

I thought that too about the horse flies but it hasn't been overly warm either.

If it's slurry you'll see it in the fields.

Smell from meat factories and mushroom factories often far worse than slurry smells. Smells from pig farms and chicken farms can be fairly bad too without spreading, just moving waste from sheds to external stores can produce a lot of smell.


Also it is very warm for time of year.

Say my name

Somehow I doubt they are horse flies.

Smells fishy to me.

Newgrange Warrior

Perhaps sprouts if u have veg farmers nearby and the variation is wind direction?

purplegold114

Ok thanks all will keep an eye out.

Not sure what's fishy about horseflies but maybe your more of an expert on them. I'm pretty sure they were horseflies, longer and more evil looking than the normal house fly (not a blue bottle either).

Anyway thanks for the advice.

Green farmer

Do you have a septic tank in your garden ? Could that be full ?

vicwatson

Not horseflies at this time of year, do you mean daddy long legs?

Snowfire

Newgrange Warrior wrote: »

Perhaps sprouts if u have veg farmers nearby and the variation is wind direction?

Time of the year for Brussel sprout consumption..
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/HpMAAOSwU1FXQdVi/s-l640.jpg

bogman_bass

Slurry would do nothing to incourage horse flies

Odd that the smell is only appearing for a couple of hours.

Is there a dump nearby? They could be venting gas.

purplegold114

Nope definitely not daddy long legs. Like house fly but longer and more brown looking.

purplegold114

Wouldn't the sprouts be done at this stage. Would they be replanting them for next year or something?

Not septic tank either.

White Clover

Non farming folk will often associate any bad smell(s) as being from slurry when it could be from any number of sources.

purplegold114

No dump that I know of.

purplegold114

White Clover wrote: »

Non farming folk will often associate any bad smell(s) as being from slurry when it could be from any number of sources.

I've lived in the country all my life so that's why I'm confident it's a slurry smell. However I obviously could be wrong. But if no septic tank and no dump,what else do you think it may might be?

whelan2

purplegold114 wrote: »

No dump that I know of.

We used to get that around here especially around Christmas, it was from the local dump.

alps

Plenty of guys are at slurry, and they shouldn't be. The only outcome to the carry on, is that those farmers that respect the rules will be hit with further capacity requirements and the distinct possibility of stock reductions...

Farmers shouldn't accept it any more that purplegold who lives in the community...

I've seen it here lately...guy spread slurry within 30 m of a local house, 3 days before christmas, on a downslope to a river, and then lit a fire on Christmas day, his family drawing all the rubbish they could muster up, and it poisoned homes for 3 days with this foggy weather.

Yep, he should be reported am I'm worse for not doing it..

Grueller

purplegold114 wrote: »

I've lived in the country all my life so that's why I'm confident it's a slurry smell. However I obviously could be wrong. But if no septic tank and no dump,what else do you think it may might be?

Are you in the Gorey area? If you are it could be Custom Compost in Ballyminaun. Can be smelt in my yard and I am 6 miles away minimum.

Gawddawggonnit

alps wrote: »

Plenty of guys are at slurry, and they shouldn't be. The only outcome to the carry on, is that those farmers that respect the rules will be hit with further capacity requirements and the distinct possibility of stock reductions...

Farmers shouldn't accept it any more that purplegold who lives in the community...

I've seen it here lately...guy spread slurry within 30 m of a local house, 3 days before christmas, on a downslope to a river, and then lit a fire on Christmas day, his family drawing all the rubbish they could muster up, and it poisoned homes for 3 days with this foggy weather.

Yep, he should be reported am I'm worse for not doing it..

+1.


I’d a lad drawing duck shyte last Friday week from a duck farmer...stopped by the cops. Turns out you now need the equivalent of a CMR to move slurry/fym out of season.

No you shouldn’t report them, but a mega change of culture along with education is needed. That needs to come from within, starting with local authorities.

No point in denying that the carryon doesn’t exist....I see that there’s even fodder crises deniers about the place now!!

Keepgrowing

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

I’d a lad drawing duck shyte last Friday week from a duck farmer...stopped by the cops. Turns out you now need the equivalent of a CMR to move slurry/fym out of season.

No you shouldn’t report them, but a mega change of culture along with education is needed. That needs to come from within, starting with local authorities.

No point in denying that the carryon doesn’t exist....I see that there’s even fodder crises deniers about the place now!!

Wonderful: our French commentator is back, so badly missed

Gawddawggonnit

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Wonderful: our French commentator is back, so badly missed

Nothing to see here....move along.

Keepgrowing

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

+1.


I’d a lad drawing duck shyte last Friday week from a duck farmer...stopped by the cops. Turns out you now need the equivalent of a CMR to move slurry/fym out of season.

No you shouldn’t report them, but a mega change of culture along with education is needed. That needs to come from within, starting with local authorities.

No point in denying that the carryon doesn’t exist....I see that there’s even fodder crises deniers about the place now!!

You’ve changed your position on reporting:(

The Rabbi

Keepgrowing wrote: »

You’ve changed your position on reporting:(

I wonder could it have anything to do with getting hassle over duck poo?;)

Gawddawggonnit

The Rabbi wrote: »

I wonder could it have anything to do with getting hassle over duck poo?;)

No it wouldn’t.

New regs here from midnight...
If slurry/fym is hauled more than 2.5km on a public road a kind of cmr must be filled, recording type of crap and litres/tons etc.
Obligatory if traded between two different farms.

Slurry spreading dates changed to 1st March and fym to 15th February.
Nitrate spreading date changed to 1st March.
FYI.

148multi

purplegold114 wrote: »

Nope definitely not daddy long legs. Like house fly but longer and more brown looking.

It could be farmer cleaning down sheds or yard into tank, or adding a bacteria to break down slurry which bubbles away while working and giving off the stench of slurry. All quite acceptable within the regulations. I live down the road from farmyard, normally no stench, but some times you'd think the stuff was flowing past the house with the smell. As for flies, would imagine its because of the current temperature, lads out mowing lawns in their t-shirt when they should be in hibernation ðŸ˜

patsy_mccabe

Any farmer worth his salt should be able to tell what kind of slurry it is. I can tell from what breed of cow it eminates. On a good day, I can tell if they are in calf.

Dakota Dan

vicwatson wrote: »

Not horseflies at this time of year, do you mean daddy long legs?

Dung flies maybe?

Dakota Dan

alps wrote: »

Plenty of guys are at slurry, and they shouldn't be. The only outcome to the carry on, is that those farmers that respect the rules will be hit with further capacity requirements and the distinct possibility of stock reductions...

Farmers shouldn't accept it any more that purplegold who lives in the community...

I've seen it here lately...guy spread slurry within 30 m of a local house, 3 days before christmas, on a downslope to a river, and then lit a fire on Christmas day, his family drawing all the rubbish they could muster up, and it poisoned homes for 3 days with this foggy weather.

Yep, he should be reported am I'm worse for not doing it..

You seem to be keeping a close tab on that lad.

grass

If a contractor is spreading slurry for a farmer and they are are reported who gets fined and what are the fines ?

148multi

grass wrote: »

If a contractor is spreading slurry for a farmer and they are are reported who gets fined and what are the fines ?

It would depend on the circumstances.

mahoney_j

grass wrote: »

If a contractor is spreading slurry for a farmer and they are are reported who gets fined and what are the fines ?

So u have a neighboring farmer at slurry but a mate or someone u know is the contractor spreading it for him and u don’t want to land him in it .....
Anyway I’m fairly sure farmer if reported will be visited by council and Dept and bps deduction forthcoming ,contractor will also be fined for spreading out of season

whelan2

Can't you contact the department to get permission to spread?

Grueller

whelan2 wrote: »

Can't you contact the department to get permission to spread?

I would fear an inspection of storage capacity afterwards

Genghis Cant

I don't know the ins and outs of this case but I will say this. I'm always amazed by the number of people 'not from a farming background ' that confuse the smell of silage with slurry.
Maybe in the OP's situation the local suckler farmer has taken to feed his spring calving cows at night thus generating the smell.

Who knows!

STB.

Genghis Cant wrote: »

I don't know the ins and outs of this case but I will say this. I'm always amazed by the number of people 'not from a farming background ' that confuse the smell of silage with slurry.
Maybe in the OP's situation the local suckler farmer has taken to feed his spring calving cows at night thus generating the smell.

Who knows!

I'd say that the OP is correct in their suspicion of what it is and that it is someone just ignoring the prohibited period.

I'd imagine that it is someone trying to get ahead given the mild weather we have had. Hasn't there been calls for flexibility in this area ? The whole idea is to fulfill the requirements of the Nitrates Directive and have a defined period which in turn is to ensure that agricultural runoff to waterbodies is prevented.


Anyway the closed period ends mid January. Heres a general over view (I think the start dates where subsequently extended by a week or too)

893bet

Can you spread parlour washing’s and water etc at the moment?

Base price

whelan2 wrote: »

Can't you contact the department to get permission to spread?

Yes you can but only in exceptional circumstances due to animal health and welfare - slurry over slats/tanks overflowing. I've heard that it can trigger a cross compliance inspection.

Mooooo

893bet wrote: »

Can you spread parlour washing’s and water etc at the moment?

Yeah you can but normal rules apply 're rainfall and ground conditions. The definition of parlour washing is below a certain percentage DM so I guess if you were checked on while spreading that's what they would do would be take a sample to make sure. Normally pump parlour washing here into other tanks pre agitating for when the contractor comes

alps

893bet wrote: »

Can you spread parlour washing’s and water etc at the moment?

You can, as long as the weather allows, that's no heavy rain forecastbformthe next 48 hours, that ground conditions allow, and more importantly that the "washings" come from a separate tank to any slurry. The rules used to stipulate that that tank must be able to hold a minimum of 10 days of your dirty water requirements and that it could only be the washing from the parlour and yard but no dung or slurry from that yard.

However afaik, that stipulation changed to a BOD level, of like a certain percentage of solids which meant that collecting yard washing would be ok where high levels of water were used....

Dakota Dan

whelan2 wrote: »

Can't you contact the department to get permission to spread?

My neighbours tank filled with rain water when a down pipe broke a few years ago, it was out of season so he rang the department and the man on the phone said spread away it's only water. Personally I would rather a signed note from the department man before spreading, probably fat chance of getting that though.

Dakota Dan

Mooooo wrote: »

Yeah you can but normal rules apply 're rainfall and ground conditions. The definition of parlour washing is below a certain percentage DM so I guess if you were checked on while spreading that's what they would do would be take a sample to make sure. Normally pump parlour washing here into other tanks pre agitating for when the contractor comes

It was 1% solids when I was in REPS and the adviser said to keep a sample in the fridge if you are spreading. What's to stop anyone watering down the sample?

893bet

Dakota Dan wrote: »

It was 1% solids when I was in REPS and the adviser said to keep a sample in the fridge if you are spreading. What's to stop anyone watering down the sample?

In the fridge? A sample of ****ty water?

Dakota Dan

893bet wrote: »

In the fridge? A sample of ****ty water?

That's what he said, I've a small fridge in the dairy for vaccines also it isn't supposed to be that sh1tty, 1% sh1t 99% water.

9935452

Dakota Dan wrote: »

Mooooo wrote: »

Yeah you can but normal rules apply 're rainfall and ground conditions. The definition of parlour washing is below a certain percentage DM so I guess if you were checked on while spreading that's what they would do would be take a sample to make sure. Normally pump parlour washing here into other tanks pre agitating for when the contractor comes

It was 1% solids when I was in REPS and the adviser said to keep a sample in the fridge if you are spreading. What's to stop anyone watering down the sample?

What happens if you dont water it down enough 😂

moneyheer

Your up **** creek without a paddle😊

RobinBanks

Just wanted to get thoughts on agitating. I have an open slated shed with locking barriers. I was wondering would it be very dodge to agitate with cattle in the shed. If the cattle were locked in the barriers they would be facing the fresh air if that makes sense? and i was wondering would this be adequate ventilation. I have never agitated with cattle int he shed so not sure how risky it would be

9935452

RobinBanks wrote: »

Just wanted to get thoughts on agitating. I have an open slated shed with locking barriers. I was wondering would it be very dodge to agitate with cattle in the shed. If the cattle were locked in the barriers they would be facing the fresh air if that makes sense? and i was wondering would this be adequate ventilation. I have never agitated with cattle int he shed so not sure how risky it would be

Is it an airy shed. ?
Ie very open .
We always try to take cattle out of the shed.
Taking the gas element out of it they can get spooked by the splashes. Its also easier to see what you are doing.

Overall not worth the risk

Mooooo

I bought a sulphur dioxide alarm, 150 in the coop.

893bet

RobinBanks wrote: »

Just wanted to get thoughts on agitating. I have an open slated shed with locking barriers. I was wondering would it be very dodge to agitate with cattle in the shed. If the cattle were locked in the barriers they would be facing the fresh air if that makes sense? and i was wondering would this be adequate ventilation. I have never agitated with cattle int he shed so not sure how risky it would be

If it was a windy day you might get away with it.

Hardly worth the risk though? Absolute madness IMO.