Muck and Blackgrass

[Clive]

I have been offered a lot of free FYM - I want it but I am nervous as the straw is not mine and might come from farms with blackgrass issues

My question is if I compost the FYM will it destroy the BG seed that might be in it ? I wouldn't care if I piled it up and left it years before spreading if needed ?

 

[cotswoldcs]

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole I'll PM my postcode and you can dispose of it at my farm for a very small fee.

Actually if you can store it and ideally turn it every 3 months I think you could safely spread it next year. I've been told the key to composting FYM is regular turning to get the temperature up.

 

[debe]

Blackgrass to the line where we spread muck. Turned it regularly but the composition of the much was wrong to get the heat up (too much slurry). Stay away Clive!!

 

[franklin]

Someone elses muck with potential BG? Not worth it even if free - it would be better sent to an AD plant at high temps then pasteurised.

 

[multi power]

So does this mean livestock farms will get this blackgrass too?

 

[Will7]

Don't touch it. It is not worth the risk

 

[Clive]

so is straw from BG areas of the UK now worthless ?


or put another way is BG free straw worth a premium ?

should crops that straw is to be sold from be subject to inspection like a seed crop to slow down the spread of this weed ??

 

[E_B]

We spread muck originating from heavy land with BG onto clean light land, and haven't seen a problem. Been doing it for nearly two decades. Relax! Having said that, we won't complain if straw prices fall.

 

[S J H]

so is straw from BG areas of the UK now worthless ?


or put another way is BG free straw worth a premium ?

should crops that straw is to be sold from be subject to inspection like a seed crop to slow down the spread of this weed ??

If only, I'd have plenty of free straw.

 

[milkloss]

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole I'll PM my postcode and you can dispose of it at my farm for a very small fee.

Actually if you can store it and ideally turn it every 3 months I think you could safely spread it next year. I've been told the key to composting FYM is regular turning to get the temperature up.

Doesn't do much to dock seed so I should think BG seed would laugh at the challenge!

 

[Will7]

so is straw from BG areas of the UK now worthless ?


or put another way is BG free straw worth a premium ?

should crops that straw is to be sold from be subject to inspection like a seed crop to slow down the spread of this weed ??

Would you buy cattle riddled with TB and introduce them to a TB free herd??

Like I said IMHO it is not worth the risk and that opinion is based on my farm having been rammed full of bg and still having plenty! I was offered duck litter but I can't take it because I know where the straw has come from despite my land crying out for organic manure.

 

[texelburger]

We let some fields on a outlying farm for Maize,the farmer spread his own fym from bought in straw.That farm now has some bg on those fields.If you don't know the origin of the fym, as regards bg fields,i would steer well clear.

 

[Oat]

so is straw from BG areas of the UK now worthless ?


or put another way is BG free straw worth a premium ?

should crops that straw is to be sold from be subject to inspection like a seed crop to slow down the spread of this weed ??

It could be quite difficult to guarantee that a field is completely blackgrass free, as it would have to be inspected early June when blackgrass heads are normally above the crop and easy to see, but even after this you could still get some plants remaining below the canopy and it would be difficult to see any plants at harvest as all would look dead. Since there can be so many sources of blackgrass- seed, machinery, muck etc...., it could be very difficult to prove (or where not) any new plants have come from.

Maybe if you have a very tight almost closed system which offers control over most sources of new blackgrass seed, and you are able to apply 'potentially' infested muck and then haver sufficient time to use several cultivation/chemical/etc... methods to control any possible germination, then maybe you can reduce the risk. It would probably best not to incorporate the muck for as long as possible, as this would potentially mix seed throughout the profile. Maybe just leave it on the surface to rot down and allow chemicals to act on anything that germinated.

 

[Brisel]

I have been offered a lot of free FYM - I want it but I am nervous as the straw is not mine and might come from farms with blackgrass issues

My question is if I compost the FYM will it destroy the BG seed that might be in it? I wouldn't care if I piled it up and left it years before spreading if needed ?

You'd have to turn the heap occasionally or the ouside won't get hot enough to pasteurise it & kill the seeds. Simon C is quite a whizz with his home made compost - he had some threads running on it in the DD sections.

 

[B'o'B]

Steven Moss of Rothamsted could not understand why he kept getting asked to go to Wales to give talks on resistant Blackgrass.
It turned out it was because of all the straw bought in from the East they had imported BG which was becoming a problem.

 

[Flat 10]

Turning is quite a faff with a teleporter and requires quite a bit of time and space, I would recommend a 360 from what I have observed.

 

[Lincsman]

If there is blackgrass seeds in the straw they will be in the muck... no question.
Muck hills are not that hot in the middle let alone the outside.

 

[Clive]

You'd have to turn the heap occasionally or the ouside won't get hot enough to pasteurise it & kill the seeds. Simon C is quite a whizz with his home made compost - he had some threads running on it in the DD sections.

i was thinking it might be worth getting a windrowing machine to do it - its a LOT of free OM to walk away from that would make a big difference to my soils over a few years and might not have BG seed but that's an unknown

 

[Tractor Boy]

I don't think blackgrass will be an issue if you are spreading the muck onto light enough land. We have a heavy land farm with blackgrass and a light land farm. The machinery is all shared and in 20 plus years I haven't seen a blackgrass plant on the light land.

I suppose the question is how light is your light land!

 

[Clive]

I don't think blackgrass will be an issue if you are spreading the muck onto light enough land. We have a heavy land farm with blackgrass and a light land farm. The machinery is all shared and in 20 plus years I haven't seen a blackgrass plant on the light land.

I suppose the question is how light is your light land!

its light ! but not all of it - i would call some more medium loam but certainly nothing heavy

I'm told that the biggest reason BG is not a big issue in my are (it does exist however) is high iron content soils - not sure if that is correct however