Watch: options for slurry after silage

A lot of silage has been made on farms over the past week, which means that many farmers will now be going out on these bare fields with slurry that they didn’t get a chance to spread in the spring time.

Heavy grass covers for many farmers meant that they have held off spreading a large proportion of their slurry.

To get the best use out of this slurry, it should be spread as early in the grazing season as possible.

Three methods of spreading slurry examined, grass cut and spread on 23rd April. Grass covers measured this week -1200kg for splash plate section, 2100kg for tailing hose and 2200kg for trailing shoe, nearly doubled growth with different application methods @FJBeef #DairyBEEF2019 pic.twitter.com/R3lSyUxRUk

— William Conlon (@WilliamConlon) May 21, 2019

There are fears from farmers that the dry weather of the past few weeks could see a repeat of the drought of the summer of 2018 and this may turn some farmers off using a splash plate method to spread slurry.

Farmers who spread slurry with a splash plate last year had slurry caking on grass, never getting the chance to be washed in.

This led to spoilage of pasture and reduced palatability, which affected graze-outs.

One option that should be explored is to use low-emission slurry spreading equipment.

Johnstown demo

The DairyBEEF open day at Johnstown Castle had a practical demonstration where pasture was cut on 23 April.

This was then spread with slurry at a rate of 3,000 gallons/ac using three different methods.

The first method was to spread with a splash plate, with grass covers measured this week showing a cover of 1,200kg on this section. Analysis showed there was a 12-unit recovery of nitrogen.

The second method was to spread slurry with a trailing hose. Cover on this section was 2,100kg, with a nitrogen recovery of 27 units.

The final method used was a trailing shoe. This had a grass cover of 2,200kg and a 29-unit recovery of nitrogen.

The cost of spreading slurry can increase when the option is made to go with the low-emission equipment.

The cost of spreading with a splash plate on a 2,500-gallon tanker is €65/hour, according to the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland.

This increases to €85/hour where a trailing shoe attachment is used.

However, the more efficient use of nutrients must also be taken into account.