Ear to the ground

Birdnuts

kerryjack wrote: »

Finely money in rushes.

Tommy Keanes farm in Leitrim where I attended a course late last year has been using rushes for bedding and heating for a number of years now - its sad though that the likes of Teagasc haven't done a tap in this area given its potential for farmers in many marginal areas

orchard farm

I wonder does the burning completly kill the rush seed,stoped using rushes for bedding here cause it was only spreading seed and making problem worse

alps

Birdnuts wrote: »

Tommy Keanes farm in Leitrim where I attended a course late last year has been using rushes for bedding and heating for a number of years now - its sad though that the likes of Teagasc haven't done a tap in this area given its potential for farmers in many marginal areas

Quiet an amount of work done by teagasc is as a result of farmer demand and lobbying. Are there results from this usage that you would like determined? Can you envisage a trial that could be set up to provide such results? Have you been turned down to have such a trial be set up?

Donegalforever

Birdnuts wrote: »

Tommy Keanes farm in Leitrim where I attended a course late last year has been using rushes for bedding and heating for a number of years now - its sad though that the likes of Teagasc haven't done a tap in this area given its potential for farmers in many marginal areas

Would using rushes for bedding not be a sure way of spreading rushes?
The seeds, (if not removed from the rushes), would get mixed with dung and if subsequently spread on land would almost certainly help rushes to invade.

Gods Gift

The really good summer of 18 we mowed off, and made hay on a neighbour field that was full of rushes. We got 210 mchale bales. The patches that were heavy of rushes were kept for bedding and the rest were offered to the cows to eat what they wanted and rest threw under them. Loved the sweet grass and the dung was spread before ploughing for beet. No rushes yet and only got spread out with haybob. Still have a few still. Pinkeye was a problem though rooting through it for the grass.

Birdnuts

alps wrote: »

Quiet an amount of work done by teagasc is as a result of farmer demand and lobbying. Are there results from this usage that you would like determined? Can you envisage a trial that could be set up to provide such results? Have you been turned down to have such a trial be set up?

Their agenda appears to be driven exclusively by big agri-business in terms of a concentration on intensive dairy etc. very little heed paid to the needs of farmers in marginal areas and sustaineable production methods that are becoming more and more relevant in terms of the future CAP and public demand. The likes of the Natura farmers group have pointed this out time and time again

alps

Birdnuts wrote: »

Their agenda appears to be driven exclusively by big agri-business in terms of a concentration on intensive dairy etc. very little heed paid to the needs of farmers in marginal areas and sustaineable production methods that are becoming more and more relevant in terms of the future CAP and public demand. The likes of the Natura farmers group have pointed this out time and time again

Need to get in someone's ear about it. Dairy lads are paying a levy towards a range of different trials, so this links to your experience. The board of teagasc is the place to lobby if you can at all get hold of one of them...

Water John

Give Liam Woulfe a ring so.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Gods Gift wrote: »

The really good summer of 18 we mowed off, and made hay on a neighbour field that was full of rushes. We got 210 mchale bales. The patches that were heavy of rushes were kept for bedding and the rest were offered to the cows to eat what they wanted and rest threw under them. Loved the sweet grass and the dung was spread before ploughing for beet. No rushes yet and only got spread out with haybob. Still have a few still. Pinkeye was a problem though rooting through it for the grass.

We did similar to bring a field back into production. The down side is rushed are really poor for bedding cattle on. No soakage but no problems with rushes when spread afterwards either.

Say my name

The RTE player really is useless.

It wouldn't load to watch it yesterday still got to watch about 12 ads.
So I watched it today. The biochar cooperative have noble aims. Whatever costs would be taken in administration?

But it's seriously easy to make char yourself. And more than likely if you have the resources to make it you'll have the use for it too.
Only thing I noted their kiln was a bit high to feed into. And no sprongs were being used. I got the plans for mine off a site in the U.S. that had developed pyramid kilns and the euro hitch for the loader was an essential addition for me. There's no point being a busy fool with a shovel.
If anyone wants the measurements of it send me on a private message.

But the process is simple. Set fire to a layer wait till it barely turns to ash on top. Then add another layer of feedstock and repeat and repeat till you reach the top or where ever if you don't want a full load.
Then turn on the tap with a pipe connected to an ibc tank that should be on a height higher than the kiln.
And when quenched you can lift the whole lot water and all and tip it in your slurry tanks.

You can give the char a bit of a poke around with something when it's cooking to break it into smaller bits if you want.

But yea not a bad piece on it. Carbon storage, ammonia trapping, land treatment and even ruminant addition to diet. It was all covered.
Me health and safety buddies would love all that especially the slurry stuff.

alps

Say my name wrote: »

The RTE player really is useless.

It wouldn't load to watch it yesterday still got to watch about 12 ads.
So I watched it today. The biochar cooperative have noble aims. Whatever costs would be taken in administration?

But it's seriously easy to make char yourself. And more than likely if you have the resources to make it you'll have the use for it too.
Only thing I noted their kiln was a bit high to feed into. And no sprongs were being used. I got the plans for mine off a site in the U.S. that had developed pyramid kilns and the euro hitch for the loader was an essential addition for me. There's no point being a busy fool with a shovel.
If anyone wants the measurements of it send me on a private message.

But the process is simple. Set fire to a layer wait till it barely turns to ash on top. Then add another layer of feedstock and repeat and repeat till you reach the top or where ever if you don't want a full load.
Then turn on the tap with a pipe connected to an ibc tank that should be on a height higher than the kiln.
And when quenched you can lift the whole lot water and all and tip it in your slurry tanks.

You can give the char a bit of a poke around with something when it's cooking to break it into smaller bits if you want.

But yea not a bad piece on it. Carbon storage, ammonia trapping, land treatment and even ruminant addition to diet. It was all covered.
Me health and safety buddies would love all that especially the slurry stuff.

What area of ground could you cover with one load of your char, that you would say you've maxed out it's benefit?

Say my name

alps wrote: »

What area of ground could you cover with one load of your char, that you would say you've maxed out it's benefit?

Honestly I don't know.

The idea at the moment is just add it to the slurry tank. It's a big tank so I doubt I'll have enough made for it. Then if I thought it was there's a dung heap to take it and if that was there's calf pens and the other bedding areas.
Max per acre would never enter my head.
Dung is produced every year so it be constantly needed every year. The worms will mix it into the deeper layers.

There's studies been done but they all use naked char that's never been mixed or innoculated with any compost or biological sources. And then the biochar word is bandied about when it's all different char when made from different biomass. The only studies that have positive results for chars at the heavy rates are chars made from manure. The charing concentrates the phosphorus and potash and so on in a char from the original source so naturally the manure source has the advantage over say a timber source.

You have to use your head on all these studies to cut through what they were doing.

It'll never happen but if I ever had a large amount of innoculated char I wouldn't mind having a go at putting it down with a subsoiler with a gravel leg. And let the benefits spread out at depth.

Albert Bates tells of them using a keyline plough on their farm and putting down char with that and they've deepened their soil and increased the carbon content and they're doing that every year or bi annually for the last 15 or 20years.

It'll be time to make and sourcing material that'll be constraints. It won't be looking for land to spread it on.

I'm not skirting round the question but that's the best way I can answer it.
The benefit is always to find a way of building soil life and a way to farm without or reducing buying in npk.

Castlekeeper

alps wrote: »

Need to get in someone's ear about it. Dairy lads are paying a levy towards a range of different trials, so this links to your experience. The board of teagasc is the place to lobby if you can at all get hold of one of them...

Look at the make up of same board to see the cause of the problem, intensive dairy farmers representing farm orgs or processors, plus reps from fertiliser and pharmaceutical industries or associated professions.

Castlekeeper

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

We did similar to bring a field back into production. The down side is rushed are really poor for bedding cattle on. No soakage but no problems with rushes when spread afterwards either.

I find they make excellent bedding for calves and calving pens, much better than straw. Having grass through them makes all the difference. No issue with the dung either.
I would consider a field producing bedding for me to be in production!

Castlekeeper

Say my name wrote: »

The RTE player really is useless.

It wouldn't load to watch it yesterday still got to watch about 12 ads.
So I watched it today. The biochar cooperative have noble aims. Whatever costs would be taken in administration?

But it's seriously easy to make char yourself. And more than likely if you have the resources to make it you'll have the use for it too.
Only thing I noted their kiln was a bit high to feed into. And no sprongs were being used. I got the plans for mine off a site in the U.S. that had developed pyramid kilns and the euro hitch for the loader was an essential addition for me. There's no point being a busy fool with a shovel.
If anyone wants the measurements of it send me on a private message.

But the process is simple. Set fire to a layer wait till it barely turns to ash on top. Then add another layer of feedstock and repeat and repeat till you reach the top or where ever if you don't want a full load.
Then turn on the tap with a pipe connected to an ibc tank that should be on a height higher than the kiln.
And when quenched you can lift the whole lot water and all and tip it in your slurry tanks.

You can give the char a bit of a poke around with something when it's cooking to break it into smaller bits if you want.

But yea not a bad piece on it. Carbon storage, ammonia trapping, land treatment and even ruminant addition to diet. It was all covered.
Me health and safety buddies would love all that especially the slurry stuff.

Would you not want it crushed/ milled for it to mix and have contact area?

Say my name

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Would you not want it crushed/ milled for it to mix and have contact area?

Well I'm only using miscanthus so it's fine enough as is.
But for timber char they recommend walking on it to break it up before composting for smallholders. So farm scale drive a tractor on it and use. It's easy broken when quenched.
It's a bit tougher made dry.

I don't think it's really meant to be dust either.

whelan2

Great a repeat of last week's programme which was a repeat anyway

zetecescort

new series tonight at 8:30

NcdJd

zetecescort wrote: »

new series tonight at 8:30

Lovely to see flour being milled from Irish grain.

Panch18

Tune in next week to see the assassination of the Irish dairy industry as we focus on dairy pollution in Courtmacsharry

That McSweeney one has already published a piece in the Guardian on the “industrial dairy farms” in that area and how they were responsible for the algae in the bay

We were only being buttered up with a nice organic flour story and a lad swapping sheep for cows

kk.man

Panch18 wrote: »

Tune in next week to see the assassination of the Irish dairy industry as we focus on dairy pollution in Courtmacsharry

That McSweeney one has already published a piece in the Guardian on the “industrial dairy farms” in that area and how they were responsible for the algae in the bay

We were only being buttered up with a nice organic flour story and a lad swapping sheep for cows

McCullough does my tree in too.

kk.man

Panch18 wrote: »

Tune in next week to see the assassination of the Irish dairy industry as we focus on dairy pollution in Courtmacsharry

That McSweeney one has already published a piece in the Guardian on the “industrial dairy farms” in that area and how they were responsible for the algae in the bay

We were only being buttered up with a nice organic flour story and a lad swapping sheep for cows

McCullough does my tree in too.

Panch18

kk.man wrote: »

McCullough does my tree in too.

God he sickens my stomach looking at him, and worse listening to him

Beechwoodspark

Mcsweeney is very much an organic is best vegan type

alps

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Mcsweeney is very much an organic is best vegan type

Was surprised she downed the oyster..

memorystick

kk.man wrote: »

McCullough does my tree in too.

A stones if ever there was one.

Jjameson

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Mcsweeney is very much an organic is best vegan type

Tune in next week to here how dairy farmers are polluting the Blackwater. Upsetting the delicate balance of industrial waste, domestic sewage and nature

http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b2802a65be.pdf

Say my name

Big difference in nitrate releases in the Castledockrell and Ballycanew catchments.
And that's tillage land and with the least amount in derogation on an upwards trend.

https://twitter.com/TeagascEnviron/status/1319565214942101504?s=20

Panch18

alps wrote: »

Was surprised she downed the oyster..

it was through gritted teeth

Water John

Say my name wrote: »

Big difference in nitrate releases in the Castledockrell and Ballycanew catchments.
And that's tillage land and with the least amount in derogation on an upwards trend.

https://twitter.com/TeagascEnviron/status/1319565214942101504?s=20

Tillage ground with shallow soil depth overlaying limestone is the biggest leacher.
Wells can change quite quickly and go over 25 which then becomes a concern.