A Teagasc-organised farm walk in Co. Tipperary tomorrow, Thursday, February 26, will explore some of the most pressing environmental issues around slurry spreading and fertiliser use.
The walk, put together by Teagasc in Thurles, will take place on the farm of Jim Parkinson, a well-known pedigree Limousin breeder. The farm is located near the village of New Inn to the south of Cashel. The Eircode is E25 VW97.
The farm walk will begin at 11:00am. The issues of slurry and fertiliser will be framed in the context of reducing emissions.
The benefits of low-emission slurry-spreading equipment, such as trailing shoes, will also be discussed.
On fertiliser, the event will highlight the environmental benefit of cutting the use of ammonia nitrate, and replacing it with urea, especially protected urea.
Such a change would reduce emissions by some 71%. As well as that, it would reduce levels of ammonia in the environment, of which agriculture is the primary source.
Another environmental issue that will be addressed is field margins, i.e, the appropriate minimum distance from the edge of a field to spread slurry or fertiliser in order to avoid run-off into water courses.
Fertiliser ‘precision’
Maximising fertiliser accuracy – and reaping the associated benefits, both environmentally and financially – was the name of the game at the recent Precise Application of Fertiliser event in Gurteen College.
Held in the Co. Tipperary agricultural college on Wednesday, February 12, a host of fertiliser suppliers and their contract spreader agents attended on the day.
The event was organised by the Fertiliser Association of Ireland in association with Teagasc and the staff at Gurteen College.