http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYzTqe-LsPELarge storage tanks are also commonplace. A small to medium sized tank will hold around 2250m3 which is enough to hold 10 weeks slurry from 300 cows.
Regulations relating to nitrogen (N) prohibit farmers from spreading slurry from December 15 to January 15 in nitrate vulnerable zones. Those zones cover around 60% of the UK and also restrict total N applications coming from slurry and fertiliser. The limit for manure N is 170kg N/ha although it can be extended to 250kg N/ha though a dispensation or derogation.
Spreading
A trailing shoe fitted behind the slurry wagon or fed via an umbilical pipe directly from the slurry storage area delivers slurry close to the ground.
A trailing shoe fitted to the back of a slurry wagon or fed directly from the slurry storage area via an umbilical pipe is a common method of applying slurry to land.
The trailing shoe pictured folds out so the delivery hoses and shoe applicators span around twice the width of the slurry tanker. As the name suggests they drop down and trail behind the tractor. The aim of the metal shoe at the end of the hose is to help drop the delivery nozzle down into the pasture sward putting the slurry onto or close to the ground, fouling less of the pasture.
In the UK regulations now prohibit slurry being sprayed upwards from the tanker although a splash plate on the back of the tanker to spread out and downwards is still acceptable and is a common form of slurry application.
Many farmers owned their own slurry tankers but big tankers require big tractors. One 16,000litre tanker was estimated to weigh 23 tonnes when full and when also towing the trailing shoe the farmer used a 230hp tractor that could be powered up to 270hp.
