The last chance to spread slurry in 2021 will be Thursday night as the closed period commences on Friday 15 October.

The weather forecast for the coming week is for mostly dry weather, which means there’s a great opportunity to get all the remaining slurry on the farm spread in good conditions.

Farmers in a nitrates derogation must spread slurry using low emission slurry spreading (LESS) equipment such as a trailing shoe or a dribble.

Ideally, slurry should be spread on areas of the farm that are closed for the winter but there is no real issue with spreading slurry using LESS on fields that will be grazed again this autumn.

If using a splash plate, try and avoid spreading slurry on fields with a cover greater than 500kg/ha to avoid staining the grass.

Farm yard manure can be spread for another fortnight. Farm yard manure cannot be left in heaps in fields or on hardcore surfaces from after 1 November.

Soiled water can continue to be spread throughout the winter. The definition of soiled water is any liquid with a biochemical oxygen demand of less than be 2,500mg/l and a dry matter of less than 1%.