“I’ve had positive experiences with the product over the last six seasons in the stalls.The homogenous slurry, which can be mixed more easily, is very important when pumping it across to my slurry basin.
On top of that, I’ve been able to reduce the amount of nitrogen that I have to spread on the grassland. I started using AgriMest in November 1999. I usually had to spend two or three days somewhere around the New Year mixing the slurry and pumping it across from the cubicle housing to the nearby slurry pit, which has a volume of 550m3. Using AgriMest made the slurry so homogenous that I can now get it pumped across to the slurry pit in half a day. And you can see it too – the slurry is clearly more aerated.
In addition, I have been able to adjust the amount of nitrogen suppletion downwards quite some way. I only spread half as much nitrogen in 2003 as I did in 1999. And that represents a significant saving in costs, of course.
The stall climate is better as well: the ammonia is bound better, which means less smell. And flies are less of a problem in summer too.
Using AgriMest means that the stripes left behind by the slurry spreading disappear earlier than they used to. There is also very little burning. The good turf quality – with relatively large amounts of grass “at the bottom” means that water does not generally have to be sprayed immediately. In short, another gain in terms of labour and fuel costs.
I also think it’s striking that the cows are not bothered by being put out to graze on plots that have just been fertilised (slurry spreader). The slurry seems to be absorbed more quickly into the humus-rich turf that AgriMest produces.