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I wonder will the Department of Agriculture, or Europe, or whoever makes the rules, ever realise how ridiculously flawed the slurry ban is? It’s been reasonably dry all winter since the ban came into force on 30 September, and as soon as the ban is lifted for the northern end of the country (on 1 February) the flood gates open. Three weeks ago a farmer couldn’t spread on dry ground, but it’s more environmentally friendly to spread today on saturated ground. Now obviously no one is going to go out and spread slurry on waterlogged ground, but you get the point I’m trying to make.
Thankfully, most farmers I’m talking to, with the exception of a few, are not under any serious pressure to get slurry out. With the good back end we had, the winter has been somewhat shorter than usual. However, there’s nothing like a nice dose of watery slurry, applied early, to help grow a bit of spring grass. On cattle-only farms it's going to be difficult to get slurry out with a tanker and splash plate. The winter has been so mild that grass continued to grow throughout and there is a lot of it around. Contractors with a trailing shoe will come into their own this spring, so slurry can be applied to heavy covers without dirtying the grass.
In order for me to get the tank mixed, I need to get my calves out to grass by day, something I haven’t done yet this year
One of my own tanks is coming very near full and I’m soon going to have to decide whether to get my contractor in with the pipe and trailing shoe, which is undoubtedly a great job, or take the lazy way out and pull a few loads out to another tank to temporarily lower the level and keep me going for another while. Nothing like kicking the can down the road a bit. In order for me to get the tank mixed, I need to get my calves out to grass by day, something I haven’t done yet this year. As of a few days ago calves are all running together in one batch, so the next dry day I’ll probably open the door and stand back.
Lowering the level
With the calves out of the equation, I can usually tighten the remaining stock up into one shed and safely mix my tank. Even writing that down makes it sound like a lot of work. Maybe I’ll just lower it a foot by pulling water out of it and then curse my stupidity later on when I can’t get it mixed and have to start adding water back in. All cows are now calved and there is a notable stretch in the evenings, so I think I’m going to put Brexit to the back of my mind for the moment and enjoy the anticipation of another good summer. What’s life without a dream?
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