Alot of farmers won't entertain chicken muck/sewage cake or digestate being spread on their farms , me included. Its so strong it sours the ground and on grass its too risky for the livestock imo. One thing i have noticed on a big estate that built a AD plant is the amount of docks its covered in now.
AD Plants Digestate
- Thread starter steveR
- Start date
Used sewage sludge for many years, the real issue to be aware of was heavy metals, but from our local works, there was very little industry feeding in so less of an issue than some locations.
While still allowed, liquid sludge on grassland was a great top dressing, post hay or silage. I bought an aerator back in the day which allowed a much heavier dressing to be applied without run off. The spiking allowed the liquid down into the roots and really got a fast regrowth.
So the AD plant does not sterilise the material...
Worth an extended composting for solid?
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Never had a dock on my place until last year when I drowned the place in digestate .... grass grew like stink but so did the docks and thistles... bag muck is cheap once youv had too spray them our anyways ....
Liquid?
and then because of spraying you kill all your herbage and clover too
- Location
- Worcestershire
Digestate itself depends on what the digester is fed, just like the human body it can have an upset stomach and not be all good. Liquid is better more so for grass land and solid is good if it is spread within a short time scale, leave it a few months then you will not get much out of it
Makes good sense. I assumed that a digester is "fed" a quality diet, so as to maximise the performance, but I suspect it will also have the odd Maccy's thrown down the chute?
The comments above would seem to indicate care is needed with liquid digestate. Be fine from a unit feeding slurry and sugar beet though?
The digester I used is fed food waste it’s a Biffa plant and has a high quantity of plastic in it... has quite a lot of available N but just brought in too many nasty weeds too so we’re not having it again ... seemed good at the time delivered and spread for free or delivered for £2 a ton and spread it myself but then cost £800 too spray the docks and thistles out ??
fert would of actually been cheaper
ollie989898
Member
Grassland spray is a hell of a lot cheaper than having to fork out the P, K and N (and sulphur) for heavy silage cuts!!!
Grows a few docks, would not bother me a jot.
Not all plants do solid separation it would be worth investigating though.
Grows a few docks, would not bother me a jot.
Not all plants do solid separation it would be worth investigating though.
ollie989898
Member
The trick is not to absolutely plaster the stuff on.
You would not drive around throwing on 150 units of N and K for the fun of it, so why do it with digestate.
- Location
- Cumbria
Digestate contains the Nutrient taken from the land and bioculture during the production of the feed-stocks from both food and crop feed-stocks.
Returning the Nutrient from whence it came is environmentally friendly, cost effective and makes a valued addition and contribution to the Circular Economy.
Most weed-seeds are killed in the process if the plant operates effectively, and in the case of food-waste, pasteurisation is a regulated part of the operation.
Dock seeds are highly unlikely to survive the process: https://croprotect.com/weeds/docks
One benefit of Digestate is, you know what your getting, if you don't know what the Nutrient Balance is DON'T USE IT !!!!!
Once you know the values (NPK) it can be spread (preferably injected) at the volumes required, maybe more than one application is required dependent on ambient temperature.
The Plants using food-waste should be PAS110 accredited, this allows them to apply to be part of the Biofertilizer Certification Scheme, therefore plastics and inert material should not be a problem: http://www.biofertiliser.org.uk/
Digestate offers a great alternative to chemical fertilizer, as well as having organic credentials that can contribute to the re-invigoration of bioculture in soils and cleaner water systems.
Do it right !!
Returning the Nutrient from whence it came is environmentally friendly, cost effective and makes a valued addition and contribution to the Circular Economy.
Most weed-seeds are killed in the process if the plant operates effectively, and in the case of food-waste, pasteurisation is a regulated part of the operation.
Dock seeds are highly unlikely to survive the process: https://croprotect.com/weeds/docks
One benefit of Digestate is, you know what your getting, if you don't know what the Nutrient Balance is DON'T USE IT !!!!!
Once you know the values (NPK) it can be spread (preferably injected) at the volumes required, maybe more than one application is required dependent on ambient temperature.
The Plants using food-waste should be PAS110 accredited, this allows them to apply to be part of the Biofertilizer Certification Scheme, therefore plastics and inert material should not be a problem: http://www.biofertiliser.org.uk/
Digestate offers a great alternative to chemical fertilizer, as well as having organic credentials that can contribute to the re-invigoration of bioculture in soils and cleaner water systems.
Do it right !!
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@thesilentone Great detailed info in that post. Thank you very much for it.
Gonna suss out the availability of digestate locally over the coming months...
Gonna suss out the availability of digestate locally over the coming months...
The stuff I was getting was PAS110 accredited and you could pick bits of plastic up off the bloody field ??
it was also steaming hot when spread but still got a field of docks despite them claiming its heat treated so dock seeds won’t survive... They gave me a data sheet which made it all look very good stuff and were supposed to come do soil samples too see how much they needed too apply but never did the samples and just flooded the place out instead lol
ollie989898
Member
If there is plastic in it then don't accept it.
Dock spray is very cheap compared to the value of the P and K in the digestate. Grows grass like rockets.
Dock spray is very cheap compared to the value of the P and K in the digestate. Grows grass like rockets.
Digester Man
Member
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but digestate grows docks. But it’s saving us a fortune in fert and good for the soil when used sensibly (2500 to 3000g max at any one application) so we are just having to adjust to adding a dock spray into our annual programme