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How NFFN farmers deal with manure and slurry

United Kingdom
Farm Practices
Compost
Defra
grazing
Livestock

Defra has announced it’s tightening the Farming Rules for Water, meaning farmers in England must now meet stricter criteria for spreading muck in the autumn. We’ve asked three NFFN farmers to share how they manage manure and slurry within their nature-friendly farming systems, ensuring it benefits both the environment and their farm business.

Bronagh O’Kane - Drumard, Co. Tyrone

“I’m very wary of blanket solutions to problems, and of the majority of farmers who are doing things the right way being penalised for the actions of a few. Slurry is an amazing product because of the nutrients it provides, but how we manage and use it is crucial.

“We dilute our slurry with water and then spread it quite thinly, usually around 1500 gallons per acre. We add bugs to it, which is particularly useful for reducing the amount of ammonia. After that, we mix in a quantity of well–composted farmyard manure and some vermicast. This inoculates the slurry, making the nutrients more available to plants when you spread it. This also means there is much less risk of leaching from the land.

Slurry is an amazing product because of the nutrients it provides, but how we manage and use it is crucial.

Bronagh O'Kane

“I prefer biological or nature-based solutions over technological ones. Low-emission spreading equipment is now available, but it is expensive to hire contractors, and the heavy machinery can cause soil compaction. We only worm or dose our animals when we notice a problem or based on faecal egg counts. Routinely medication can lead to wormers ending up in the slurry, which then becomes harmful to soil life, particularly worms, when spread.

“I’m also interested in biochar, although I haven’t tried it yet. It’s extremely porous, acts like a magnet for nutrients, it’s low-cost and it can be made on-farm from waste tree clippings.”

Tom Edmondson - Cranley Barn Farms, Milton Keynes

“When we were fattening pigs, we had several hundred tonnes of pig muck, which we would stack and leave for six to 12 months before spreading it for nutrients. We’ve since moved away from that system and currently house our cattle for three months. We mix the farmyard manure from our cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens with woodchip and clay-heavy soil to make compost.

“We use the windrow method of composting, allowing it to heat up to between 70 and 75 degrees C to kill off pathogens and weed seeds. We then turn it three to five times with a loader, repeating the process until the compost starts to cool. At that point, we add a portion of compost containing worms from last year’s pile and let it stand for a few months to break down further. This can then be used to topdress our fields in spring.

“We’re now creating a biologically active product. The vermicast concentrates nutrients and also feeds the soil’s fungal biology, which helps reduce crop diseases. Bacteria have been quite dominant in our soil due to years of conventional farming, so restoring the balance with fungi is important.”

Jon Thornes - South Ormsby Estate, Lincolnshire

“We have around 300 Lincoln Red cattle (about 100 cows and their followers) and for the past four years or so, we’ve been able to outwinter them. Because the cattle stay out all year, we don’t have to spread any manure. It’s just dropped on the fields.

“When we first started farming here, all the animals came in over winter and we had to pile up the manure and spread it on our arable land. It was expensive, time-consuming and hard work. We then started leaving the young stock out through winter, gradually extending the period when all the animals were out. The final year before we switched entirely, the cattle only came in for two weeks.

“The key thing to making outwintering work was planning a two-year grazing rotation. We graze only half the grass, so the other half grows tall like a forest. This helps it withstand the cattle’s weight when we put them in the fields between October and February. It’s really important to avoid churning the ground, which also means you need to move water troughs regularly rather than leaving them in the same place.

“We’re quite lucky here on the drier east coast of England, with a slope that helps drain the water away. This system would be harder to implement on flat land, in wetter areas or on heavy clay soil. What inspired me was seeing other nature-friendly farmers running similar systems. I thought if they could do it, I could experiment with it as well.”

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