LIQUID MANURE AS A MONEY-MAKER

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 63, Issue 2, 15 August 1941, Page 105

LIQUID MANURE AS A MONEY-MAKER

During the last three years the Taranaki farmer whose farm is discussed in this article has increased his herd from 53 to 85 cows. He considers that

much of this increased carrying capacity was due to the treatment of 55 acres with liquid manure, the outlay for which was only £75,

Carrying Capacity Increased By 40% in Three Years

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G. A. BLAKE,

I Instructor in Agriculture, f I Stratford. = " ■iiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiitiiiifiiKiiiiinii*

A MONG those who appreciate' the AMONG of liquid manure the value of liquid manure for topdressing paddocks are Mr. C. A. Marchant, a prominent member of the Dairy Board and a successful breeder of Fresians, and Mr. W. Pitcairn, the manager of Mr. Marchant’s ; Cardiff dairy farm, where for the past three seasons the cowyard manure from the milking shed and yards has been regularly distributed over the pastures of the farm as liquid manure. The farm is on the Cardiff road near Stratford at an elevation of 1400 feet, and growing conditions in the. winter and early spring are anything but good. The country is flat to undulating, but with two deep gullies cutting across the area. The soils are light volcanic, with, however, a good rainfall. The plant for collecting and distributing the cowyard manure was put in three years ago at a cost of £75. The plant was designed to handle the manure from the '53 cows being milked, and consists of a concrete sump to hold 3000 gallons, an electric pump which will lift 100 gallons a minute to the distributing tank, and two 200-gallon tanks which can be easily put on and off the farm truck as required. Because the yard has been extended at different times and the drainage does not always run towards the sump, the solid manure from the yards is carried to the sump in a. wheelbarrow, and only the milking shed and part of the holding yards are washed down into the sump.

Treatments Over Three Years

In the first year, when 53 cows were milked, the 3000-gallon sump was filled every 14 days, and 16 acres of the

pastures were top-dressed with liquid manure at the rate of about 16 to 18 tons per acre. With the motor truck and two 200-gallon tanks, it takes about two to three hours, to empty the sump and distribute the liquid manure- Five of the 16 acres treated were specially top-dressed in the late autumn for early , spring feed with really outstanding results.. In the second season 59 cows were , milked, and the sump was filled in about 12 days. Another 18 acres was top-dressed this season, including five acres for early spring feed. ' - For the third season the herd was increased to 66 cows, and the sump

was filled every 10 days. This season, 21 acres were top-dressed, the fiveacre paddock specially top-dressed for early feed being one of the paddocks already treated. The results on this paddock showed that although the first dressing gave very good results, the second one was .outstanding.. In the three years, 55 of the 120 acres have been treated with the liquid manure. Although it would take about seven years, to go over the .farm at this

rate, Mr. Marchant considers that it will be best to treat the whole farm rather than to concentrate at this stage on a limited area. The second treatment of the one five-acre paddock has convinced him, however, that remarkable results could be obtained by a little more concentration than what he has aimed at so far. From the rate at. which the sump is filled, it. will be seen that for each

cow about four gallons of liquid manure per day was collected on this farm, and the distribution shows that an acre was top-dressed for each three cows milked. The quantity of liquid manure handled will, of course, depend on the amount of water required and used to wash down the shed and yards. . This will also affect the concentration of the manure. The thinner the liquid the easier it is to pump and

distribute, but the more concentrated should be the application.

Greater Yields

Some interesting results were obtained in top-dressing hay and ensilage paddocks with the liquid manure. Two ensilage paddocks and a hay paddock were treated before being shut up, and showed the value of this manure ' in getting a better crop- A portion of one of the ensilage paddocks which had to be missed before, closing was pale in colour and a much thinner crop than the treated area. The heaviest crop of hay yet cut out on the farm was obtained from a paddock top-dressed with liquid manure just before closing. Any small areas of a paddock missed in spreading the liquid manure show up very clearly for a long time. The effect of the one application of manure is very distinct and lasting. This season it is intended to milk 85 to 90 cows, and the manure from the cowshed, will, it is expected, be sufficient to cover between 25 and 30 acres. The drainage from a new pig

fattening pen will also go into the sump and will provide for a few more acres. A large proportion of the minerals from the whey and other food for the pigs will then go back to the pastures. The farm is top-dressed with phosphate manures and lime at about 3cwt per acre, and the liquid manure is applied as an extra. Both Mr. Marchant and his manager, Mr. Pitcairn, are convinced, however, that the outlay of £75 has been more than repaid, and that the two. to three hours required every 10 to 14 days to spread the manure is well worth while. Much of the increase in carrying capacity during the past three yearsthat is, from 53 to 85 cows— definitely attributed to the treatment of the 55 acres with liquid manure. . s ' The area first treated three years ago is still showing the results. ' With the increase of the herd and the addition of the pigsty manure it will be possible to cover the farm every four years with a good and lasting dressing of liquid manure. . It is certain that the severe cut in the fertiliser available this season will

mean much less to farms such as Mr. Marchant’s, where liquid manure can be used to keep things going, than it will on the great majority of dairy farms where this valuable source of farm manure is wasted. Farmers who use liquid manure from the cow bails and yards to topdress the x pastures or manure crops have one complaint— is never enough.