End of the slurry pong?

IT probably will be the way of the future for all farmers . . . the direct injection of slurry into the soil, eliminating the possible loss of nitrogen to the atmosphere and also getting rid of that awful pong from the waste liquid.

Agri-contractor Seamus Doyle from Bullaun near Loughrea, decided to splash out his cash to avoid the ‘splash outs’ from the traditional plate spread of slurry directly onto the grass.

Seamus told the Farming Tribune that he imported directly from Holland in 2010 his 380 horsepower Vervaet with a 40kph box. It not did not come cheap, costing a cool €256,000 at the time – it is the only one of its type in the Republic of Ireland.

Since then though the machine has made a very solid effort at paying its way with a pretty flat-out demand from January through to October as farmers see the benefits of direct injection.

The direct injection system has a lot of very obvious advantages that farmers are now seeing at first hand, according to Seamus Doyle.

“The big advantage in terms of nutrient usage, is that it eliminates the loss of nitrogen into the atmosphere, one of the major problems with spreading directly onto the grass.

“Secondly the slits into the ground and the gaps in between allows the worm to survive, also a very important aspect of soil fertility, while a third advantage is that the land can often be grazed four to five days after the slurry has been injected into the soil.

“From an environmental point of view, one of the most noticeable advantages is that the smell from the slurry is eliminated as it goes straight into the soil and under the grass surface,” Seamus Doyle said this week.

After that, it’s all down to economics and Seamus Doyle points out that the direct injection system cost to the farmer is quite reasonable given the purchase price of the machine.

His tanker takes 3,100 gallons with a charge of €45 per load to farmers that compares quite solidly with a charge of about €30 per load for the conventional splash plate spreading system with a 2,600 gallon load.

The slurry can be injected into the ground at depths of between two and four inches and at whatever rate the farmer wants and the slits also help to aerate the ground.

“I think that the price to the farmer is very, very competitive given the advantages of the system – we have to price it that way to get the business, but the return for the farmer is really good we believe,” said Seamus Doyle.