Most farms have ready access to large volumes of cattle slurry at this time of year. Its nutrient content will depend on dry matter and the level of meal fed to the cattle producing the slurry.

Finishing cattle that have been fed high levels of concentrates will produce slurry with a much higher nutrient content than slurry produced from dry spring-calving cows on a silage-only diet.

The type of weather when slurry is spread also determines the nitrogen availability. For instance, slurry spread on a dry sunny summer day will only provide 50% of the nitrogen it would supply if spread on a dull, damp spring day. However, it will still provide a similar level of P and K, regardless of the weather conditions when it is spread.

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