Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
Been thinking about the new elms scheme, restrictions on slurry and increasing number of dry periods and have come up with somewhat of a decent idea in my head and just want to see what other people think!
Because I'm spring calving my thinking is that by the time they're housed in the winter (say from October by night and november by day) a large majority of them would be towards the end of their lactation and therefore the risk of mastitis lower. Therefore my thinking was I could get away with bedding on straw instead of sand and in doing so increase the thickness of the slurry being produced to the point that the stuff in the cubicles is now dung rather than slurry and therefore now stackable. The now remaining slurry from the collecting yard and silage pit (self feed) could be collected and scraped into either a much smaller pit or mixed with dung. The dung could be carted away to my dads farm and stored in the dung store I've got going up this year to be spread on silage ground. Depending on wether the slurry can be mixed with dung or not a new slurry pit could be dug under elms with all the extra kit needed.
This then leaves the current slurry pit empty and unused, I believe there is likely to be money for irrigation systems under the elms scheme?! Could this be used to fill with water for irrigation during the summer to maximise grass growth??
Just thinking out loud at the minute and obviously none of this would be happening for atleast a couple of years!
Because I'm spring calving my thinking is that by the time they're housed in the winter (say from October by night and november by day) a large majority of them would be towards the end of their lactation and therefore the risk of mastitis lower. Therefore my thinking was I could get away with bedding on straw instead of sand and in doing so increase the thickness of the slurry being produced to the point that the stuff in the cubicles is now dung rather than slurry and therefore now stackable. The now remaining slurry from the collecting yard and silage pit (self feed) could be collected and scraped into either a much smaller pit or mixed with dung. The dung could be carted away to my dads farm and stored in the dung store I've got going up this year to be spread on silage ground. Depending on wether the slurry can be mixed with dung or not a new slurry pit could be dug under elms with all the extra kit needed.
This then leaves the current slurry pit empty and unused, I believe there is likely to be money for irrigation systems under the elms scheme?! Could this be used to fill with water for irrigation during the summer to maximise grass growth??
Just thinking out loud at the minute and obviously none of this would be happening for atleast a couple of years!