Sewage in a DD system

[Chae1]

They are offering free soil sampling before applying it up here. Want 2.65/t spread.

How soon after applying it could you graze grass?

 

[Pedders]

Would really like to get some sewage sludge into our farm, but I don't really know where it can fit in logistically. I can't apply to cover crops (CS scheme), presumably it can't go on with wheat in the autumn, pre spring drilling is dodgy as I suspect there is some soil damage from the application? Suppose I could do it on OSR in the autumn, although does that fall foul of NVZ rules?

Why can’t it go on pre wheat ? It’s what we do here and it works well .....

 

[Tom H]

Big user of sludge, just moved away from broiler for more cake. As the sludge is way cheaper and gives us a big slug of P. By far the cheapest way to get P. Depending on where it comes from we are either £55 (giving £106/ha or P) or £65/ha (giving close to £120/ha or P). Chicken @£10/t would cost us close to £108/ha but only give £50/ha. loads of available N and K but not enough P. Your tine drill would count as a cultivation. Or just do a really shallow pass with the Carrier, cant comment on the other products as I have never used them but from a P point of view it seems more £££

 

[Brisel]

I'm also a big user of sewage cake. Down here it's mostly digested cake which is dark grey & doesn't smell much except for 24 hours after application. The lime stabilised version really smells but is drier and the heaps won't move. £4/t delivered & spread here. Fertiliser value is £10.80/t in P and N, with the other bits like OM, calcium & trace elements for free.

It's all good stuff as far as I'm concerned. 3 crops' worth of P and approx 27 kg/ha N available to the next crop so fine on the stubble before osr. My concerns are the compaction, accuracy of spread and microplastics. The high pH of my soils means the heavy metals will never be seen again. Chlorides are fine at these low doses. It can go in front of any crop needing N (no pulses) which includes cover crops. No till drills, rakes or harrows would all count as a cultivation to incorporate it.

Nutri-bio who do the Anglian sewage use Terragators with LGP tyres, weigh cells, GPS and spinning discs so the spread patterns will be ok. The major compaction is on the tip site. I've stopped using it before spring crops because of soil structure damage and malting barley contracts forbid it. Some niche milling contracts like Warburtons also don't like it.

 

[dontknowanything]

The high pH of my soils means the heavy metals will never be seen again.

Not heard this before could you explain further?

 

[dontknowanything]

I'm not sure I would pay for it either - these waste disposal business are dependant upon land to spread to and make good money from disposing of waste and we as farmers give that ability away to them , how daft is that !

That must be why you don't us AS (waste product from pharmaceutical production) or Fibrophos (chicken waste) in that case...!?

 

[dontknowanything]

Last time we used it, we stuck it on just after drilling a cover crop in autumn. Worked well, cover came up quick and did away with the need to cultivate it in...was a long way away from houses and footpaths though, as Clive says, not v popular with locals. It is useful stuff, but wouldn't want to use it too much as heavy metals etc soon build up in soil.

Not allowed to do this on CS cover crops

 

[dontknowanything]

Why can’t it go on pre wheat ? It’s what we do here and it works well .....

Could do, although putting autumn N on to wheat seems a bit of a waste. Think it may work well going on to wheat in white straw (second wheat, after oats, barley etc)

 

[dontknowanything]

Those figures look high to me, like total figures, not plant available figures which could be considerably less. Can you post the analysis supplied to you?

 

[Clive]

That must be why you don't us AS (waste product from pharmaceutical production) or Fibrophos (chicken waste) in that case...!?

a fair point !

 

[Brisel]

Not heard this before could you explain further?

These aren't the best charts but you'll get an idea of how higher pH reduces metal availaibility.

 

[TeaBread]

The P is now so well bound by the new treatments its not available to the plants or soil, by comparison to a decade ago .
Lime treated may go like concrete but at least its more available for crops.
Wessex water can shove their £5 / t .
Last loads contained garden fence posts and plastics. Great.

 

[Brisel]

The P is now so well bound by the new treatments its not available to the plants or soil, by comparison to a decade ago .
Lime treated may go like concrete but at least its more available for crops.
Wessex water can shove their £5 / t .
Last loads contained garden fence posts and plastics. Great.

I had a load like that spread over a field. The contractor came and picked it up after I complained. Apparently the sewage skips are closer to the tea room than the refuse ones so the Wessex staff chuck the odd bin liner in the wrong one. It wasn’t the spreader contractor’s fault but since they are responsible they cleared it up. Don’t be afraid to kick off about it! My boss spotted it & was not happy but I had the lads coming out to fix it. Poole sewage works?

 

[TeaBread]

Bristol works. I mentioned posts to them but of course it couldn't possibly of been them ....