Teifi Valley
600 acres
300 cows
7,200l/cow
About Marcus, the farm and the herd
Treatment and application
18kg
275ac
12 weeks
18kg of the slurry inoculant was applied to the tank in early January 2022. And while there was a significant proportion of slurry already in the system which would have volatilised, analysis showed notable retention of additional nitrogen.
The inoculated slurry was applied to 275 acres of silage ground at a rate of around 3,000 galls/ac.
Never one to stand still, alongside the introduction of SlurryForSoil™, Marcus used liquid instead of prilled fertiliser, introduced a humic acid foliar feed and cut the grass 10 days later than in the previous year. This additional growth has been accounted for in the results below, with yields being proportionally adjusted down.
Results
– 30% more forage
– 37.5 % less nitrogen needed
– 51.9% reduced in carbon cost of forage production
– Return on investment of £15.81 per £1 spent on SlurryForSoil™
Due to the increase in the amount of nutrients retained with the slurry, Marcus was able to reduce the amount of synthetic fertiliser used. Over the whole season:
2021: N80 P0 K0 S23.3
2022: N50 P0 K0 S14.6
Conclusion
Up 30%
Down 37.5%
Reduced by 51.9%
ROI £15.81/£1 of SFOR
Using SlurryForSoil™ reduced Marcus’ farm fertiliser bill by over £9,000 while increasing forage yield by 30%. In addition, Marcus estimated he saved a further £1,000 through reduced need to stir the slurry.
The combined effect of increased grass yield and reduced synthetic fertiliser use reduced the forage’s carbon emissions by 51.9%.
Marcus’ thoughts
“SlurryForSoil™ breaks down the fibre, so there wasn’t any on the surface of the lagoon and it was easy to spread.
“It also went into the soil more quickly meaning nutrients weren’t lying on the surface contaminating the leaf,” he says. “Applications were much more consistent so we’d not got patches with more slurry and others with less.
“The growth rate of the grass was enormous – it was a year when many were struggling for forage and we were able to sell some. That really helped us.
“It’s saved us fertiliser too.”
Marcus has used SlurryForSoil™ again in winter 2022, and saw similar effects.
“It’s the cheapest insurance policy you can buy…the cost isn’t really worth talking about, especially with the return you’ll see. SlurryForSoil™ is just fantastic! So many of these types of products come at a significant cost, this one doesn’t.”