Cattle manure value

[Brisel]

I think its wrong to look at the cost for muck on a individual crop/ year basis.
If you apply a single dose to one crop and put all the costs assosiated with the muck to that crop then its a non starter but if you have a long term view that muck is going to become a long term integral part of you farm and you can see beyond just the ££££ then it works.

If you say the muck costs £60 acre for example, applied once ever three years through the rotation then thats £20 year/acre. I dont know of anything else i could spend that money on which will do as much good long term.
Theres far more to muck than just nutrients and OM, regardless of soil type/location/farming policy it will make any land better.

I agree with all of that. So, what £ value do you put on it?

 

[onthehoof]

Would it be economic to use a walking floor , to bring muck and take straw back , if any one wants to do the numbers ,from kings lynn ,
you can have 200 acre of barley ,90 % winter barley , FREE you bale it stack it up , we will load the straw ,andyou bring back the muck
is one acre of straw ,for 15 ton muck ,.? black grass free straw ,

I might be interested, transport cost would be key, what about grass seeds in the muck?

 

[robbie]

I agree with all of that. So, what £ value do you put on it?

now theres a question!!!!

Answer is its pricless!!!

In all honesty i dont really know. I have a small field which is on an annual tennancy and as a result it doesnt get any muck and hasnt had any for as long as i can remember.

I consider this field to be my control, its imdexies are all good and it gets what it needs from a bag but whether its autumn or spring sown, a dry or wet year it always seem to yield a third less than the rest of what i farm which all gets muck regularly.

This year for example that 33% reduction on a wheat crop would be £200 give or take but i cant say the muck is worth £200 because a single application wouldn't bring that fields yields up in line with the rest because theyve been having muck for generations.

The value of nutrients in muck has been done to death on here in the past but somethings in life you just cant put a price on.

 

[DrWazzock]

If it’s out your own shed with known weed seed loading, known herbicide residues or other contaminants and no real transport and rehandling costs then it’s much more attractive than imported muck. Imported muck can be OK but can be hard work and can import problems.
I’ve never found it attractive for those reasons.

 

[BRB John]

The simplest answer it is worth as much as you can get for it.
The farmers that are jammy enough to get straw for muck are the real winners here that's for sure...

 

[Highland Mule]

Why are you spreading muck in Jan?
All nutrients will be down a ditch !

Im planning to spread muck this week too - onto my lambing fields. The frost will break up the lumps better, the frozen ground and snow depth will mean I don’t leave marks. There’s rarely run off from fields here either, so the slow release will give a pre-spring boost as and when it warms above zero. If I wait until spring, I’ll have soft ground and lambs grazing, neither of which suits me flinging the muck out.

 

[snarling bee]

The simplest answer it is worth as much as you can get for it.
The farmers that are jammy enough to get straw for muck are the real winners here that's for sure...

I did a muck for straw deal with myself by putting up some B'n'B pig sheds. So I've made my own jam.

 

[onthehoof]

I did a muck for straw deal with myself by putting up some B'n'B pig sheds. So I've made my own jam.

....and your own ham

 

[onthehoof]

I would have thought a purely arable farmer would happily give away his straw and have it back as muck, with just the cost of having it spread it £3-4/t

 

[Bossfarmer]

I would have thought a purely arable farmer would happily give away his straw and have it back as muck, with just the cost of having it spread it £3-4/t

Its £3/4 Per tonne to have it spread? Is that contractor rates? Sounds expensive

 

[Brisel]

Its £3/4 Per tonne to have it spread? Is that contractor rates? Sounds expensive

That depends on how far it needs to be hauled. I would expect to pay a contractor around £2.50/t for a heap in the field to be spread assuming they provide a loading shovel and 2-3 spreaders.

 

[herman]

We have an arrangement with a dairy farm locally.
They have as much straw as they require be it rape, barley or wheat. We have 130 ac across the road from them that they have in the swath.
They bale and cart with smaller tractors and trailers that don't seem to do any damage or compaction.
We then get a call saying when they have a good amount of muck to cart away. We then go with 2 tractors and trailers and 3 drivers to load and cart either straight across the road or to wherever we need the muck.

Its an arrangement that both parties are happy with and the benefits are good for both sides.
As far as we are concerned we get blackgrass free fertilizer and soil conditioner wherever we want to take it, that is more soil friendly than chopped straw.

 

[Agrivator]

We have an arrangement with a dairy farm locally.
They have as much straw as they require be it rape, barley or wheat. We have 130 ac across the road from them that they have in the swath.
They bale and cart with smaller tractors and trailers that don't seem to do any damage or compaction.
We then get a call saying when they have a good amount of muck to cart away. We then go with 2 tractors and trailers and 3 drivers to load and cart either straight across the road or to wherever we need the muck.

Its an arrangement that both parties are happy with and the benefits are good for both sides.
As far as we are concerned we get blackgrass free fertilizer and soil conditioner wherever we want to take it, that is more soil friendly than chopped straw.

And the muck, being from well-fed Dairy stock will have a much higher manurial value than muck from Beef cows.

 

[teslacoils]

Its £3/4 Per tonne to have it spread? Is that contractor rates? Sounds expensive

Pay them by the day. Works better. Focuses the mind on getting the stuff in the right place. We can hire in a spreader, but by the time you've spent the next day washing it down you may as well have a contractor in.

Wasn't long ago where muck, and clear ditches, were simply results of needing to keep men busy in winter. Now it's all complicated maths. But then, if you're ditches don't work and you don't put muck on.........

 

[Will 1594]

That depends on how far it needs to be hauled. I would expect to pay a contractor around £2.50/t for a heap in the field to be spread assuming they provide a loading shovel and 2-3 spreaders.

Thats what our spreader man is on ,3 spreaders on weigh cells ,so put it on correctly and big shovel , do a good job
big thumbs up for angus newton

 

[DrWazzock]

So I am offered 500 tonnes 2 miles away through a twee village with very narrow streets and badly parked cars, inhabited by people who like ringing the council. I am expected to haul half of it myself which might end up me doing the entire mucking out job, you never really know. I have an aged 8 t dump trailer with holes in the floor patched up with boards and an elderly tractor. The livestock (beef) farmer wants all my straw off say 150 acres in return which he will bale and haul. He also takes in straw from land infested with blackgrass but apparently the seed dies in the heap. Not guaranteed stone free or wrap free either. I have to spread it and incorporate it, maybe plough it in. I have an elderly muck spreader and telehandler which don’t really like breaking a sweat, a bit like myself.
I know muck benefits the soil, but my gut says “avoid”, mainly because of the haulage, the disruption to my simple cheap direct drilling system and the blackgrass risk.
Am I being idiot, or am I avoiding being a busy fool? My gut says no and I think it’s right but just wondered what people thought. That straw chopper switch doesn’t half save some trailing about IMO.

 

[Sid]

So I am offered 500 tonnes 2 miles away through a twee village with very narrow streets and badly parked cars, inhabited by people who like ringing the council. I am expected to haul half of it myself which might end up me doing the entire mucking out job, you never really know. I have an aged 8 t dump trailer with holes in the floor patched up with boards and an elderly tractor. The livestock (beef) farmer wants all my straw off say 150 acres in return which he will bale and haul. He also takes in straw from land infested with blackgrass but apparently the seed dies in the heap. Not guaranteed stone free or wrap free either. I have to spread it and incorporate it, maybe plough it in. I have an elderly muck spreader and telehandler which don’t really like breaking a sweat, a bit like myself.
I know muck benefits the soil, but my gut says “avoid”, mainly because of the haulage, the disruption to my simple cheap direct drilling system and the blackgrass risk.
Am I being idiot, or am I avoiding being a busy fool? My gut says no and I think it’s right but just wondered what people thought. That straw chopper switch doesn’t half save some trailing about IMO.

Leave it be IMHO.

On the plastic,stones and Black grass.

Haulage and spreading could be done by contactor.

 

[DrWazzock]

Leave it be IMHO.

On the plastic,stones and Black grass.

Haulage and spreading could be done by contactor.

Actually I know a keen lad with his own modern kit who could haul and spread but at a price. My kit is old but adequate for use on farm here but not for a lot of muck haulage work or spreading.
I don’t think the plastic and stone out the sheds will be too bad but the possibility of blackgrass is my biggest concern.
It’s a good idea in principle but it isn’t.

 

[GeorgeK]

So I am offered 500 tonnes 2 miles away through a twee village with very narrow streets and badly parked cars, inhabited by people who like ringing the council. I am expected to haul half of it myself which might end up me doing the entire mucking out job, you never really know. I have an aged 8 t dump trailer with holes in the floor patched up with boards and an elderly tractor. The livestock (beef) farmer wants all my straw off say 150 acres in return which he will bale and haul. He also takes in straw from land infested with blackgrass but apparently the seed dies in the heap. Not guaranteed stone free or wrap free either. I have to spread it and incorporate it, maybe plough it in. I have an elderly muck spreader and telehandler which don’t really like breaking a sweat, a bit like myself.
I know muck benefits the soil, but my gut says “avoid”, mainly because of the haulage, the disruption to my simple cheap direct drilling system and the blackgrass risk.
Am I being idiot, or am I avoiding being a busy fool? My gut says no and I think it’s right but just wondered what people thought. That straw chopper switch doesn’t half save some trailing about IMO.

You've only just got shot of the horse manure enterprise! Chop the straw and get nutrients out a bag for a few years. At least give the easier life a chance to see if you prefer it

 

[7610 super q]

Bet the livestock farmer's got a modern tractor and new dump trailer and could do the haulage. Tin hat on......