A lot of farmers are under huge pressure trying to manage slurry. Tanks are full in many farms and fields are waterlogged.

Even dry land is wet now so the options for spreading are limited. Depending on how big the tanks are, some farmers are managing by sucking a load or two out of full tanks and either spreading this on the driest field available or moving to a tank with some spare capacity.

Either way it’s a big problem. Farmers relying on good weather before and after the closed period to get slurry spread will need to consider building more storage.

More contractors are using umbilical pipes for spreading slurry. These are great as they reduce the amount of traffic over fields.

While spreading fertiliser is not possible yet, now is the time to be taking deliveries of nitrogen.

Every 1kg of nitrogen spread in January or February grows 15kg of grass, so it is a good investment.

Urea is the product of choice as it is cheaper and more stable in the soil, even if it rains heavily 24 to 48 hours after spreading.

The recommendation is to spread 23 units/acre of urea to ground that doesn’t get slurry in early spring.

Fields that got lime in the back end of the year, up to five or six weeks ago, should be OK to receive slurry or urea now as the lime will be well washed in.

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