Slurry

Unfortunately, ground conditions have yet to improve on many farms across the country and some farms are under severe pressure to move slurry. Umbilical systems are extremely busy at the moment around the country so contact your slurry contractor in time if tanks are near the top.

Some contractors are reporting serious difficulties agitating some tanks on farms. Where tanks are getting full try to agitate before it’s too full as water may have to be added. There is no need to empty tanks on the field beside the yard that is already OK for P and K.

Just spread enough to let you get by until ground conditions improve and get slurry to areas on the farm that are low in P and K later on in spring.

Avoid damaging ground or spreading on waterlogged fields as runoff could lead to a pollution problem. Rain guns and spreading slurry from roadways is prohibited and if caught will attract a cross-compliance penalty on your BPS payment.

Fertiliser

While fertiliser is far from many farmers’ thoughts this week, those on farms that are dry in nature should start to plan the purchase of fertiliser and have it ready to go once ground conditions improve and weather gets better.

Soil temperatures around the country this week are quite good and over 6°C in some cases where growth starts to kick off. A good idea is to split your farm into three sections – heavy covers of grass, medium covers and low covers.

Heavy covers are better to be grazed and then apply a light application of slurry (2,000 gallons/acre). Medium covers are best suited to fertiliser and light covers are again best suited to receive a slurry application.

On grazing ground, trailing shoe application will avoid too much grass contamination. Slurry needs to be watery and thin for these systems to work correctly. In terms of fertiliser type, a half bag of urea (23 units) is the best rate of application to go out with first. If there are P and K issues, go with a compound on the next application. Aim to spread when light rain or drizzle is forecast. Avoid spreading if very heavy rain is forecast in 48 hours and stick to the driest fields on the farm.

Slaughtering Cattle

If slaughtering cattle, make sure to follow up and see them killed in the factory. Grading the cattle yourself for conformation and fat score before slaughter is a good way of getting your eye in and will help better selection in the future. Seeing what a 5- in fat class is in an animal hanging up can be a good guide for selecting animals at the right stage in the future. Follow up with liver health and lung issues and ask vets if there is a problem if you get talking to them.

Animal Health Ireland will issue reports indicating liver and lung damage on slaughtered animals. This is a great way of finding out if your dosing plan has worked. If there are issues, discuss with your own vet what to change to get an effective dosing programme for your farm.