Brothers Peter and Richard Burbage have been farming together for over 25 years and in that time have built up a wealth of knowledge and experience. Over the last 14 years they have bred their own cattle, resulting in a herd of 220 cows, with the aim of 400 cows by 2021. As a result of this, the farm currently produces 3,500 tonnes of liquid slurry, a mixture of manure and water which is an effective natural fertiliser.
The ability for the farm to create its own natural fertiliser is fantastic for efficiency, cost saving and the environment. However, the process of applying this slurry to the ground was not effective at all, causing the business to lose up to 75% of the nutrients in the soil through inefficient targeting and volatilisation, wasting this valuable by-product. As a result of this, the Burbage brothers decided to complete extensive research on how they could get the most out of this product, researching different spreading techniques and manure sensors.
The ability to be able to choose from so many different systems is largely down to the ever-growing sector of agri-tech. Agri-tech is the use of technology in agriculture to improve efficiency, productivity and profitability. This tech has been a turning point in agriculture, allowing farmers to review their practices and improve, in the case of the Burbage brothers, the ability to review multiple types of fertiliser applicators to choose one that works best for their land and farm. This is proof that agri-tech is not futuristic – it’s happening now.
The previous equipment, which used a splash plate application system which placed the slurry on the top of the soil, can result in up to 80% of the available nitrogen applied in the slurry being lost to the atmosphere in the form of ammonium. The brothers were also unable to monitor the direct application of each area of the field, as the application was a blanket application. The final decision was to go ahead with a fertiliser spreader that incorporates weigh cells, section control and auto shut off. This new system results in the reduction of waste, reduced costs and environmental savings through less run off, lower CO2 emissions and greater diversity. This technology works by placing liquid directly beneath the surface and ensures that nutrient value is retained with the aid of a trailing shoe which creates a small slit for the absorption of liquid.