Tynan Roulston, a seventh-generation farmer, farming over 270ac outside Strabane in Co. Tyrone has been discussing the benefits of Digest-it, a microbial slurry inoculant.
Tynan has a herd of over 70 British Friesian and Fleckvieh cows crossed predominantly with Aberdeen Angus, averaging 6,500L.
The calves are brought to beef alongside a number of beef cattle out of Tynan’s 20 Shorthorn suckler cows.
Now in his fourth year of using Digest-it, Tynan originally started using it to help with the task of mixing slurry which is stored in tanks on out-farms for seven months before being spread.
“It added great advantage, the tanks were so easily mixed, it takes about a third of the time to mix it, so you are saving a lot of money with diesel,” he said.
In addition to easier mixing, Tynan has noticed how the slurry spreads out far more evenly coupled with grass regrowth being much faster. While difficult to quantify how much extra grass he is getting,
Tynan can “definitely see more grass being grown”.
Further value is being delivered by saving on chemical fertilizer, through having to sow a bag less per acre on silage ground for every cut. He also uses less chemical fertiliser on the grazing ground.
“The cost of it is definitely outweighed by the benefits, with it delivering a financial benefit to the business and I would recommend it as it has been a big benefit on our farm,” he said.
Chloe Kyle, agronomist at United Feeds who supplies Tynan with his Digest-it, explained how Digest-it is delivering a financial and environmental benefit for farmers.
Slurry
Environmentally, it is benefitting farmers as it is rich in natural nutrients and microbial biology that feed off the ammonia in the slurry, turning ammonia nitrogen into a more stable organic nitrogen which has a less toxic odour.
In addition to the benefits in the tank, it’s when it is applied to grass that it really delivers.
“Digest-it greatly improves soil biology, increases worm numbers which in turn improves soil structure, allowing roots to grow deeper and tap into the wider soil nutrient reserves,” he continued.
Grass growth trials across eight years at a Devenish research farm have shown an average 19% grass growth improvement each year.
This extra 2t of grass per hectare is worth up to £300/t, delivering a return on investment of 13:1.
Chloe is a firm believer and has seen firsthand on many of UF’s customers farms that “good grass yield and quality starts with good soil nutrition and health, and the product to unlock this potential is Digest-it”.
Best results are being achieved where:
- Digest-it is added to slurry storage tanks 7-10 days after animals come indoors;
- Where Digest-It is working in the slurry for ideally 12 weeks plus;
For more information or to get your Digest-it, speak to your United Feeds, Goulding Fertilisers or Devenish representative.
