Making the most of Slurry

[stablegirl]

I think like many dairy farmers over the last 10 years we have started to realise how important slurry and muck is and try to use it better instead of dumping it.

We have around a million gallons of slurry storage, which is about 3 months.

We grow wheat, maize along with grass.

At this time of year it feels like just getting rid of it we can't get enough wanting it on grass and the maize ground.

We will spread a lot of slurry as soon as the maize comes off for the wheat to come in.

Then we are left with 100 acres of wheat stubble for the winter, since p and k doesn't really leach should we happily spread slurry on the wheat stubble all autumn ready for the maize to go in? Will the maize be able to make use of autumn applications?

We also have a lot of bedded yards that we muck out at this time of year and spread on the maize stubble and plough straight under for wheat, should we save all this, tip it on the wheat stubble and spread all our rough muck in spring for maize?

 

[Beef farmer]

Scratch mustard into wheat stubble and plaster with slurry. Mustard seed is dirt cheap and will also give you a lot of biomass to keep trailers and tankers moving in a damper time. Also holds the soil in the field. Will make the soil easier to break down next march for your maize seedbed

 

[Farmer Keith]

Then we are left with 100 acres of wheat stubble for the winter, since p and k doesn't really leach should we happily spread slurry on the wheat stubble all autumn ready for the maize to go in? Will the maize be able to make use of autumn applications?

when will the wheat go in? Surely 3 months from that date will take you at least into January?

 

[stablegirl]

Mustard is interesting will it just use the nutrients from the alurry or will they still be available for the maize.

The ground is really dry and soil erosion is why we get all the maize into wheat. Have as little maize.stubble as possible, about 25 acres over winter.

Wheat in start of October, yes gets us to January but can't guarantee to travel in January so if we get a window in autumn we take it to get some more out.

 

[Beef farmer]

I'd put mustard in after maize if the stubble is tobe left. If it uses the energy, when you flail it down in march you release it all again. As said, gives you something to drive on top off to keep tipping dung aswell. Will open the ground up well.

 

[Farmer Keith]

I’d be thinking a bare stubble field is the last place to be putting it, surely it’s just going to wash off have you got some more suitable grass fields to spread on in January perhaps?

 

[Sid]

Some of us have valued muck for over twice the 10 years you speak of.

FYM is most effective utilised spread in the autumn.

As beefy says get it in stubbles and hash in a cheap cover crop to suck it up and store it.

 

[Sid]

Mustard is interesting will it just use the nutrients from the alurry or will they still be available for the maize.

The ground is really dry and soil erosion is why we get all the maize into wheat. Have as little maize.stubble as possible, about 25 acres over winter.

Wheat in start of October, yes gets us to January but can't guarantee to travel in January so if we get a window in autumn we take it to get some more out.

The nutrients will be in the mustard .
Disc it in and it will feed the soil bacteria and give you plenty of nutrients in the seed bed

 

[Sid]

Could even put in Italian and mulch or disc in.
It's all bug food!

 

[Beef farmer]

Could even put in Italian and mulch or disc in.
It's all bug food!

Cost. Mustard is the cheapest ground cover youll get. The dd boys says its a crap cover crop, but a dairy farmer isn't trying to build soil om like them arable players.

 

[Sid]

Cost. Mustard is the cheapest ground cover youll get. The dd boys says its a crap cover crop, but a dairy farmer isn't trying to build soil om like them arable players.

Haven't costed it.
Anything that sucks up the nutrients and "holds" them.

 

[stablegirl]

Sorry Sid.

There seems to be an argument between spraying of and flail topping or discing cover crops?

So 2000g an acre of slurry in November say?

 

[Sid]

Sorry Sid.

There seems to be an argument between spraying of and flail topping or discing cover crops?

So 2000g an acre of slurry in November say?

Wouldn't put slurry on it in November, would get majority on stubbles and incorporate asap

Disc it and its fodder for bugs, spray it and bugs don't like it.

 

[Beef farmer]

Flail and plough

 

[stablegirl]

So the slurry/ muck needs to go on before you sow it? Because I might as well put it under the wheat.

I am interested in this cover crop idea though but I have no idea about it.

 

[Beef farmer]

If putting it all under the wheat isn't just dumping it, then use it to grow wheat. But if you've 6k gallons acre worth is that much needed? I dunno. Moment you touch slurry its costing money

 

[stablegirl]

We have 6k per acre possibly more, plus rough muck.

But since we can store the rough muck all winter just by tipping it in the field for the winter I maybe shouldn't spread any under the wheat dave or all for the maize.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Put it under the wheat. The P and K will not be lost and the crop will trickle on taking up nutrients if the winter is mild enough.

If you do put any on stubbles you intend to leave over winter, it should have a cover crop put on it in truth to prevent the N leaching.

Injecting the dung with a good arable injector and whack wheat in a rapid is a simple two pass system. Very common on the continent but it does depend on getting the maize of in sensible conditions, no wheel marks and not a horde of greenery in the stubble once the crop is off. Avoids ploughing which can somewhat offset the cost of everything else.

Potentially put pre-em herbicide on or wait until the crop is up, although around here if the weather closes in the crop should be fine until spring anyway.

P and K isn't going anywhere unless your soil is actually physically being lost.

There is no need to spray off a cover crop, although technically there is no need to flail it off if your cultivator and drill or whatever can deal with it in the spring. Cover crops being sprayed off may be driven by the species being used or the presence of particular weeds, i.e blackgrass. If a cover crop is present then hopefully you will get less of the stuff growing to begin with, too. Arguments for bugs and sprays are largely moot considering the amount of chemistry used on many crops.

Tip your solid muck on fields destined for maize or spring crops although this will depend on your timing, your dirt and other factors. In the autumn around here getting maize off and wheat in and done can be a tight operation. Wheat needs as much time as possible before the weather turns to get itself up and established to avoid drowning. I used to take extreme liberties behind maize because I knew there was never any slug pressure and the BYDV pressure would have eased off. Need a growy variety that doesn't hang around and a seed rate set to ensure it would get up and go and give the population needed come spring.

 

[Tarw Coch]

Some of us have valued muck for over twice the 10 years you speak of.

FYM is most effective utilised spread in the autumn.

As beefy says get it in stubbles and hash in a cheap cover crop to suck it up and store it.

My father was telling me of the value of muck when I was a kid.................and I don’t suppose he figured it out for himself, I suspect it’s something that’s been forgot with all the other progress made in agriculture over the last century rather than a new discovery

 

[Sid]

My father was telling me of the value of muck when I was a kid.................and I don’t suppose he figured it out for himself, I suspect it’s something that’s been forgot with all the other progress made in agriculture over the last century rather than a new discovery

Makes no difference to the N losses on heavy land. If it's in the ground with a cover crop it will be stored ready for the next crop.