| Muck & Slurry
Are you maximising the value of your slurry?
SlurryBugs has the potential to make huge savings on nitrogen fertiliser costs by capturing the nitrogen which would
otherwise be lost to the atmosphere. Being in total control of fertiliser costs by maximising the nutrient content of
slurry is still a massive area of cost saving that many dairy farmers can still exploit to the full.
he two most relevant aspects of
slurry analysis are pH and dry
matter. The aim is to improve
the nutrient value of liquid
slurry and to achieve a pH
which will encourage aerobic
activity,” says Liz Russell, managing director of
Envirosystems.
“Treating slurry in the summer is equally
important. It is a time when bacterial activity in
the store benefits from rising temperatures,
even though slurry treatment is often
considered to be a winter job.
“Making greater use of a farm’s resources is
going to become an ever more essential part of
the way farms are run in the future if we want to
reduce the rocketing cost of everything that
comes in through the farm gate.”
Maximising the value of nutrients within the
slurry when they could otherwise be wasted –
has been investigated in a four year PhD
project at Lancaster University, with full results
expected to be released this Summer.
“In treated slurry, the ammonium nitrogen
appeared to be used up by the inoculants and
was transformed into organic forms of
nitrogen,” says Mrs Russell, who says the
increased retention of nitrogen could explain
the reduction in ammonia emissions (odour)
T
30 | Farming Monthly | July 2016
following treatment.
The research also looks at the potential of
inoculated slurry to act as a vector for the
changes needed to turn soil organic
phosphorus into inorganic phosphorus and
facilitate its uptake by plants roots.
Envirosystems offers a slurry analysis and
“Slurry Calculator” service for its customers to
help them to understand the value of their
slurry. The “Slurry Calculator” provides dairy
farmers with the opportunity to fully analyse
slurry before and after treatment and to show
precisely what nutrient resources they already
have freely available to make use of.
Being in total control of fertiliser costs by
maximising the nutrient content of slurry is still
a massive area of cost saving that many dairy
farmers can still exploit to the full.
The calculation will provide a farmer with the
amount of mineral Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus
(P) and Potassium (K) his slurry contains which
means a more careful and considered
purchase of bought-in fertiliser can be made.
Lancashire dairy farmer James Rogerson
who runs the well-known Avenham Holstein
herd has been treating slurry for the last five
years and has achieved up to 70% less use of
bought-in fertiliser.
This high-yielding herd decided to treat
slurry with the inoculant SlurryBugs to help
capitalise on its total manurial value.
He has been able to gradually reduce the
amount of fertiliser applied to grassland at
Game Farm, Singleton, near Blackpool – a
management decision based on the
outstanding performance of his pastures
following continued applications of treated
slurry.
There has been no reduction in grassland
performance on the farm even though fertiliser
use has been reduced. In fact the opposite has
been the case.
Although the decision to move heifers off the
farm for rearing has slightly reduced the
amount of slurry available, p ast years have
seen the farm reduce fertiliser use by 70 tonnes
of N and 20 tonnes of P and K.
“These are figures that even I find difficult to
get used to but that’s what we’ve actually
achieved by treating the slurry and being able
to make full use of its true nutrient value,” says
Mr Rogerson.
For more information about SlurryBugs Call:
01772 860085 or visit the website
www.slurrybugs.co.uk
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk