Manure management

[le bon paysan]

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.

 

[ollie989898]

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.

 

[Rod Dumbreck]

We are not supposed to spread in the Autumn in the UK because of the new rules for water, unless thats changed again.

 

[le bon paysan]

We are not supposed to spread in the Autumn in the UK because of the new rules for water, unless thats changed again.

I'm in France.

 

[Gedd]

We are not supposed to spread in the Autumn in the UK because of the new rules for water, unless thats changed again.

I think they have had a rethink on that one

 

[bobk]

Bang it on and plough it in , job done

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

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.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

Bang it on and plough it in , job done

Problem with ploughing it in is that you end up losing a lot of the soil organic matter through aerobic respiration. If the losses are more than the muck applied you are really only burning diesel...

 

[bobk]

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

 

[bobk]

Problem with ploughing it in is that you end up losing a lot of the soil organic matter through aerobic respiration. If the losses are more than the muck applied you are really only burning diesel...

Best worked in , but time is an issue

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

I never work mine in. It still gets eaten.

 

[robs1]

We spread it thick and drill into it, its dryish stuff though

 

[ollie989898]

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]

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.

According to Nicolas Lampkin Organic farming book

 

[Rod Dumbreck]

I'm in France.

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?

 

[ollie989898]

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]

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

 

[le bon paysan]

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?

They are, but I'm not in one, yet.

 

[czechmate]

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]

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.