Manure management

le bon paysan

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Limousin, France
I'm mucking out the sheds at the moment and got to thinking( dangerous I know), should I turn the muck 3or 4 times and make compost, or should I leave it as is. If fertilizer is still expensive how many tonnes per hectare. Probably have a couple hundred tonnes. Normally spread 12 to 15 tonnes to the hectare. Spreading will be end of September. Will be going under oats and wheat.
Lighter ground with below normal P and K above normal, I had soil tested and P needed 25kgs to get into normal band.
 
I'm mucking out the sheds at the moment and got to thinking( dangerous I know), should I turn the muck 3or 4 times and make compost, or should I leave it as is. If fertilizer is still expensive how many tonnes per hectare. Probably have a couple hundred tonnes. Normally spread 12 to 15 tonnes to the hectare. Spreading will be end of September. Will be going under oats and wheat.
Lighter ground with below normal P and K above normal, I had soil tested and P needed 25kgs to get into normal band.

I think turning it once might be justifiable to help it break down and become a bit more friable. But doing this would no doubt unleash some ammonia which is an obvious loss of nitrogen.
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
I turned mine a couple of years ago and came to the conclusion that it resulted in a big loss of material, c and n effectively. So decided not to continue with it, although there's no telling what losses you might have once it's spread.

Of course the composted stuff you end up with is supposed to be much better for the soil as a conditioner and inoculant.
 

bobk

Member
Location
stafford
I turned mine a couple of years ago and came to the conclusion that it resulted in a big loss of material, c and n effectively. So decided not to continue with it, although there's no telling what losses you might have once it's spread.

Of course the composted stuff you end up with is supposed to be much better for the soil as a conditioner and inoculant.
French always composted shite , you don't see it now very much
 
The bonus of it being a bit more broken down is the smell is less offensive (in theory) and the material is a bit drier/friable so you could just spread it and leave it on the surface for the worms to incorporate.

I've seen a lot of manure spread on land and then drilled into direct. OSR drilled this way into pig solids worked very very well.
 

Sid

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South Molton
I'm mucking out the sheds at the moment and got to thinking( dangerous I know), should I turn the muck 3or 4 times and make compost, or should I leave it as is. If fertilizer is still expensive how many tonnes per hectare. Probably have a couple hundred tonnes. Normally spread 12 to 15 tonnes to the hectare. Spreading will be end of September. Will be going under oats and wheat.
Lighter ground with below normal P and K above normal, I had soil tested and P needed 25kgs to get into normal band.
20220512_193443.jpg


According to Nicolas Lampkin Organic farming book
 
I could see that, but sorry for a not very helpful reply. Do you have Nitrate Vunerable Zones or is that not a thing in France?

Years ago I was on a trip in the bit of Europe where France, Germany and Switzerland meet.

It was a hot dry time and all the crops on the German side of the river Rhine looked pished off because the authorities had banned summer irrigation.

Meanwhile, on the French side of the river irrigation was in full swing and the crops looked very pleased with themselves.

This will illustrate to you how concerned the French are regarding the environment.
 

czechmate

Member
Mixed Farmer
Years ago I was on a trip in the bit of Europe where France, Germany and Switzerland meet.

It was a hot dry time and all the crops on the German side of the river Rhine looked pished off because the authorities had banned summer irrigation.

Meanwhile, on the French side of the river irrigation was in full swing and the crops looked very pleased with themselves.

This will illustrate to you how concerned the French are regarding the environment.

i think a lot of irrigation is from bore holes which strikes me as leading to a catastrophe
 

czechmate

Member
Mixed Farmer
I'm mucking out the sheds at the moment and got to thinking( dangerous I know), should I turn the muck 3or 4 times and make compost, or should I leave it as is. If fertilizer is still expensive how many tonnes per hectare. Probably have a couple hundred tonnes. Normally spread 12 to 15 tonnes to the hectare. Spreading will be end of September. Will be going under oats and wheat.
Lighter ground with below normal P and K above normal, I had soil tested and P needed 25kgs to get into normal band.

have you seen a muck heap rotavator in action Roger? Next door has a contractor come each year. Can’t say as I’ve ever been tempted and certainly wouldn’t go wearing out a handler on the job
 

le bon paysan

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Limousin, France
Years ago I was on a trip in the bit of Europe where France, Germany and Switzerland meet.

It was a hot dry time and all the crops on the German side of the river Rhine looked pished off because the authorities had banned summer irrigation.

Meanwhile, on the French side of the river irrigation was in full swing and the crops looked very pleased with themselves.

This will illustrate to you how concerned the French are regarding the environment.
That's really unfair as it's controlled by Region/ Commune/ Abstraction licence.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.9%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.2%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.3%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,287
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top