Red Tractor - Manure Heaps

I was with a client recently that had a non conformance on his Red Tractor inspection as he doesn’t record the temperature of his muck heaps (temporary in field ones), doesn’t aerate them, and also they must be kept for 6 months before spreading. This is pig FYM.

Can anyone tell me why the treatment of a manure heap over a km from a grain store or any livestock has any influence on the quality of the product leaving the farm? Or is this just to keep jobs for the boys @Guy Smith ?
 

mixed breed

Member
Mixed Farmer
Sounds madness, must be something special about this manure.

Incidently (if it applys to all fym) what temps should they be, and how often should I be saying I'm checking and airating them... I'll get the OH the type something out to satisfy the job....
 

Farma Parma

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Northumberlandia
when i had a HLS inspection back in June i was told they prefer muck heaped up rather than just trailer loads tipped next to each other
taking far more ground up.... so as a counter argument i said yes i agree, but when you tip these over the winter months off a track next to
the field your trying your best not to put deep ruts in the ground you idiot & as for trying to heap it up forget that.
I had enough hassle loading it into spreaders after harvest time with all the rain we had in 2nd week of august
Didnt get any threats of action or anything it was just there view on now muck should be left outside.
 
when i had a HLS inspection back in June i was told they prefer muck heaped up rather than just trailer loads tipped next to each other
taking far more ground up.... so as a counter argument i said yes i agree, but when you tip these over the winter months off a track next to
the field your trying your best not to put deep ruts in the ground you idiot & as for trying to heap it up forget that.
I had enough hassle loading it into spreaders after harvest time with all the rain we had in 2nd week of august
Didnt get any threats of action or anything it was just there view on now muck should be left outside.
My experience with loading muck in fields would be to tip it out over as long an area as possible. When I was taking trailer loads of muck out to maize ground over winter I would tip it up as one long line lengthways, that way, when you came to load it up you were moving along each load meaning you made less repeat movements over the same ground and thus making less mess.

I wonder if the people who make the guidance up have any practical experience of doing the job or do they just work on nice theories devised in an office.
 

Farma Parma

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Northumberlandia
My experience with loading muck in fields would be to tip it out over as long an area as possible. When I was taking trailer loads of muck out to maize ground over winter I would tip it up as one long line lengthways, that way, when you came to load it up you were moving along each load meaning you made less repeat movements over the same ground and thus making less mess.

I wonder if the people who make the guidance up have any practical experience of doing the job or do they just work on nice theories devised in an office.
Couldnt agree more
I did what i did because of the damage to soil structure, i know the piece of land in Q is heavy & best left alone
The powers that be just think they know it all :rolleyes:
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
I was with a client recently that had a non conformance on his Red Tractor inspection as he doesn’t record the temperature of his muck heaps (temporary in field ones), doesn’t aerate them, and also they must be kept for 6 months before spreading. This is pig FYM.

Can anyone tell me why the treatment of a manure heap over a km from a grain store or any livestock has any influence on the quality of the product leaving the farm? Or is this just to keep jobs for the boys @Guy Smith ?

Do you guys that are FA not read the rules before you apply to join the club? It's either in the rules, in which case you should all be doing it (and it should be no surprise), or else it's not and you just tell the inspector to do one. I can't understand how these issues manage to keep cropping up at all - they do publish the rules, don't they?
 

Pushdyke

Member
Do you guys that are FA not read the rules before you apply to join the club? It's either in the rules, in which case you should all be doing it (and it should be no surprise), or else it's not and you just tell the inspector to do one. I can't understand how these issues manage to keep cropping up at all - they do publish the rules, don't they?

Sounds like you have no bull shite in the Scottish highlands
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
Sounds like you have no bull shite in the Scottish highlands

Only the stuff that comes out of the bulls.

I've chosen not to be FA, and manage fine without. I do spend a lot of my professional life verifying compliance with various rules though, and would never consider entertaining an audit or inspection unless I had checked myself against the rules in advance.
 

4course

Member
Location
north yorks
had our inspection last month never mentioned any protocol re muckheap size shape or temp other than wanting to see that we had marked last years and this years heaps on the field maps and done and followed our spreading plan . We arnt livestock assured with the provider as the livestock and combinables are seperate businesses. did ask what was in a locked shed which we have rented out pointed out was nothing to do with fa and left it at that nor was other non farm diversified business in their remit
 
Location
Cleveland
Do you guys that are FA not read the rules before you apply to join the club? It's either in the rules, in which case you should all be doing it (and it should be no surprise), or else it's not and you just tell the inspector to do one. I can't understand how these issues manage to keep cropping up at all - they do publish the rules, don't they?
They keep adding to them...making you jump through more and more hoops each year
 
I was with a client recently that had a non conformance on his Red Tractor inspection as he doesn’t record the temperature of his muck heaps (temporary in field ones), doesn’t aerate them, and also they must be kept for 6 months before spreading. This is pig FYM.

Can anyone tell me why the treatment of a manure heap over a km from a grain store or any livestock has any influence on the quality of the product leaving the farm? Or is this just to keep jobs for the boys @Guy Smith ?

Are you taking the pish?

I have spread thousands of tonnes of pig FYM on multiple farms and believe me, there ain't a hope in hell you will get rain-soaked pig FYM to aerate or turn into compost- the water content of it is so high. Temperature? I would think similar to the air temperature.

The main issue with muckheaps is to keep them 50 metres from a borehole or spring and 10 metres from a water course and don't put them in the same place each year.

Tell the red tractor twit that the neighbours complain about the smell nuisance caused by turning and distrubing muckheaps so it he doesn't do it any longer. Also tell them it is a health hazard to be taking the temperature of sh1t heaps due to the infection risk and also the risk of one collapsing on you.

This is a load of cobblers.
 
had our inspection last month never mentioned any protocol re muckheap size shape or temp other than wanting to see that we had marked last years and this years heaps on the field maps and done and followed our spreading plan . We arnt livestock assured with the provider as the livestock and combinables are seperate businesses. did ask what was in a locked shed which we have rented out pointed out was nothing to do with fa and left it at that nor was other non farm diversified business in their remit

Absolutely correct- if a building is used to other purposes tell them to fudge off as it's none of their business.
 

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

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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/
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