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Know How / Slurry and manure management

Every livestock farm has to deal with waste and with the increasing focus on environmental impact, it’s key it is managed appropriately. These articles include guidance on legislation, regulation, storage systems and making the most of slurry and manure.

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SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

Benefits of bokashi for Welsh beef producer

Farmyard manure is a valuable resource in any grassland system. For an organic farm whose only other input sources are magnesium lime and granular calcium lime, it is even more…

LIVESTOCK

3 ways a Hampshire dairy is focusing on biological assets

For nearly 100 years, Whitewool Farm has operated a high-input, high-output system, with current annual milk yield sitting at 10,046 litres a cow. However, the brothers running the 400-cow herd…

DAIRY

How carbon audit kick-started dairy’s net-zero ambition

Improved slurry storage and an increase in milk from forage have helped a Cumbrian dairy farm cut its carbon footprint by one-third. When the Dunning family first looked at Raisgill…

LIVESTOCK

How a slurry digester is helping cut energy costs by 85%

A Gloucestershire dairy farm has slashed monthly energy bills by using a farm-scale anaerobic digester, alongside solar panels, to produce electricity. The technology employed at Court Farm, Kempley, also produces…

POULTRY

Why pastured poultry is good fit for grassland farm

At Paddock Farm in Warwickshire, 300 Hy-line and Dekalb hens follow beef cattle around the grazing rotation, producing an average of 240 eggs a day. They apply their manure directly…

DAIRY

Why East Anglian dairy values muck-for-straw deal

Muck-for-straw deals between neighbours require your own kit, being on the ball and good communication. This is what brothers Oliver and Lewis Rushmer have found, having inherited four such deals…

Practical advice

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SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

Advice on assessing the nutritional value of manure on crops

Used properly on crops, muck is a valuable by-product that offers the opportunity to reduce artificial fertiliser inputs and improve soil health. However, measuring its nutrient value and the associated…

DAIRY

7 tips for expanding your dairy herd safely

Over the past two decades, the average UK herd size has more than doubled, and consultants say more dairy farmers are looking to expand to "stay in the game" amid…

LIVESTOCK

Ways to cut emissions in housed livestock systems

All livestock farms, regardless of system, must comply with UK environmental legislation, but as the sector comes under greater pressure to go further with greener farming methods, it is businesses…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

How to improve livestock soils with biological approach

Soil is a precious resource, but it very quickly becomes a pollutant and a problem once it reaches watercourses. It has to be kept on the farm. This is the…

SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

What to consider ahead of new slurry regulations

The huge cost of managing slurry can be offset by improving its value as a fertiliser to reduce bought-in products. But simply adding a grant-funded cover to existing slurry storage…

LIVESTOCK

Regenerative approach builds resilience for 1,750-cow herd

Building resilience into the business by growing his own cereals and having a rolling stock of 27,000t of silage is part of Neil Baker’s move to regenerative agriculture. In fact,…

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SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

How a slurry inoculant helped increase grass yields by 20%

Use of a slurry inoculant on a Cornish farm resulted in fewer nutrient losses and a boost in grass yields by nearly 20%, a trial has shown. These resulted in…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Why calcium is critical for soil, plant and animal health

Calcium’s superpowers have been known by agronomists for years, yet not enough attention is paid to the crucial role this mineral plays in soil health on farm. This is according…

SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

How water treatment technology could cut slurry storage

Adapting water treatment technology to a farm setting could reduce slurry storage requirements by 10-15%, make better use of farm nutrients and produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge…

LIVESTOCK

How better use of slurry could help reach net zero targets

Researchers in Northern Ireland are exploring how manures can be more than just a waste product by helping reduce overall carbon footprints and associated emissions. The work, carried out by…

SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

How a slurry chopper pump is enhancing dairy farm efficiency

Efficiency is a key priority at Old Holly Farm, Garstang, explains farmer Ian Pye. His organic herd of Holstein Friesian cross Scandinavian Red dairy cows is managed on a predominantly…

SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

How slurry and forage analysis is benefiting from NIR tech

Adopting precision techniques more commonly used in the arable industry is allowing livestock and grassland enterprises at Myerscough College to run more efficiently. Following access to grant funding, the college…

Video

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SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

Video: High-tech machine to revolutionise slurry pollution

While there has been a reduction in water pollution problems over recent years in England, agriculture is now the sector responsible for the largest number of serious incidents. In this…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

How to ‘home-test’ grass to know when to cut for silage

When there is late application of fertiliser and slurry to crops, it is vital important to test grass before cutting for silage. Excess nitrogen is a risk in these fields…