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<blockquote data-quote="Brisel" data-source="post: 1810378" data-attributes="member: 166"><p>I use 5500 tonnes of Wessex Water's digestate cake every year. </p><p></p><p>£4.75/t delivered & spread with a nitrogen & phosphate value of £10/t. 18 t/ha gives circa 260 kg/ha total P2O5 50% available in yr 1 and 27 kg N in year 1 with the rest locked in organic matter. That's the cost/benefit so I don't mind paying for a steady supply of free organic matter with cheap N & P.</p><p></p><p>I take it in all year round but have stopped spring spreading before spring barley as the mess of the spreader ruts is excessive (they only come here on wet days!). I'm not supposed to apply it before malting barley or milling wheat so it now goes on before osr or winter feed barley where is helps autumn development, tillers etc. A dose gives 3 crops' phosphate so we spread everything not on a SPZ1 area (borehole) every 3 years. My P indices are still rising so I will reduce some fields to 1 in 4 years to draw down. They won't spread over index 4.5. Low pH soils risk releasing the PTE heavy metals which is another reason they like high pH downland apart from being able to get access all year. Another benefit is a notable reduction in slugs - maybe it's all the curry powder consumed...</p><p></p><p>W Water have various big growers who take tonnage all year every year & a queue of others who only want some in the summer so it's not hard to see who gets priority. The price has gone up in the last 5 years but I'm assured that it won't go up any further - I know the users of over 50% of Poole & Bournemouth's output & we have all told WW that we won't pay any more. £4.75 only really covers the haulage & spreading but then again they make their money charging households for the seweage rates anyway.</p><p></p><p>The WW contractor uses Bunning spreaders which don't give an even spread pattern at 12m spacings. The drivers are students or agency workers so frequently bits get double dosed or missed plus they are trying to be keen by speeding up the bed chains instead of just going at a set speed to give a calibrated dose of what I regard as fertiliser. Other water boards use better spreaders with weigh cells, spinning discs & GPS steering driven by better paid operators but it depends on your area. I think Thames also charge a similar amount but have to go well out of their catchment to get rid of 10 million people's crap. </p><p></p><p>There are still a few sewage works generating lime stabilised sewage but most bigger ones now have AD plants. Digestate has much less smell & no pathogens which is why untreated sewage is so hard to get rid of. You'll need to adhere to the PAS protocols to apply your own to land which for small amounts is just not worth it. The sewgae companies have an EA exemption for sewage applications but there is a regular testing regime for the product & soils based on a mutually agreed code of practice. The only real time it smells is for 24 hours post tipping & for 24 hours after it has been spread.</p><p></p><p>Here's irony for you - you can spread any kind of unpasteurised muck containing God knows what pathogens & pollutants without any checks other than fiddling the NVZ paperwork yet heavily regulated sewage digestate is restricted! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite11" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll Eyes :rolleyes:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Brisel, post: 1810378, member: 166"] I use 5500 tonnes of Wessex Water's digestate cake every year. £4.75/t delivered & spread with a nitrogen & phosphate value of £10/t. 18 t/ha gives circa 260 kg/ha total P2O5 50% available in yr 1 and 27 kg N in year 1 with the rest locked in organic matter. That's the cost/benefit so I don't mind paying for a steady supply of free organic matter with cheap N & P. I take it in all year round but have stopped spring spreading before spring barley as the mess of the spreader ruts is excessive (they only come here on wet days!). I'm not supposed to apply it before malting barley or milling wheat so it now goes on before osr or winter feed barley where is helps autumn development, tillers etc. A dose gives 3 crops' phosphate so we spread everything not on a SPZ1 area (borehole) every 3 years. My P indices are still rising so I will reduce some fields to 1 in 4 years to draw down. They won't spread over index 4.5. Low pH soils risk releasing the PTE heavy metals which is another reason they like high pH downland apart from being able to get access all year. Another benefit is a notable reduction in slugs - maybe it's all the curry powder consumed... W Water have various big growers who take tonnage all year every year & a queue of others who only want some in the summer so it's not hard to see who gets priority. The price has gone up in the last 5 years but I'm assured that it won't go up any further - I know the users of over 50% of Poole & Bournemouth's output & we have all told WW that we won't pay any more. £4.75 only really covers the haulage & spreading but then again they make their money charging households for the seweage rates anyway. The WW contractor uses Bunning spreaders which don't give an even spread pattern at 12m spacings. The drivers are students or agency workers so frequently bits get double dosed or missed plus they are trying to be keen by speeding up the bed chains instead of just going at a set speed to give a calibrated dose of what I regard as fertiliser. Other water boards use better spreaders with weigh cells, spinning discs & GPS steering driven by better paid operators but it depends on your area. I think Thames also charge a similar amount but have to go well out of their catchment to get rid of 10 million people's crap. There are still a few sewage works generating lime stabilised sewage but most bigger ones now have AD plants. Digestate has much less smell & no pathogens which is why untreated sewage is so hard to get rid of. You'll need to adhere to the PAS protocols to apply your own to land which for small amounts is just not worth it. The sewgae companies have an EA exemption for sewage applications but there is a regular testing regime for the product & soils based on a mutually agreed code of practice. The only real time it smells is for 24 hours post tipping & for 24 hours after it has been spread. Here's irony for you - you can spread any kind of unpasteurised muck containing God knows what pathogens & pollutants without any checks other than fiddling the NVZ paperwork yet heavily regulated sewage digestate is restricted! :rolleyes: [/QUOTE]
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