Saturday, March 30, 2024

Loving the bugs

Avatar photo
For Darrell and Julie Wendelgelst, who milk 460 Friesian cows near Clinton in South Otago, BioBugs has been the answer to their effluent problems.
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Using a free-stall wintering barn in winter and the shoulders of the season, as well as milking all year round, was maximising their effluent system and it smelled, especially in winter.

They converted the sheep farm to dairying when they bought it in 2006 and it’s still the only dairy unit in the area. Last season they produced 260,000kg milksolids with 440 cows on the 190 hectare milking platform and the 150ha runoff which is 5km down the road.

“For the 60 to 65 days of winter we are completely total mixed rations in the barn with about 200 to 220 cows milking so that creates a lot of effluent,” Wendelgelst said.

“We’re feeding everything from wheat and molasses to some sort of protein which at the moment is dried distillers grain (DDG), plus there’s grass silage and whole crop silage going in and we’re lifting fodder beet as well.”

There’s 13 million litres of storage in the effluent pond which is clay lined and has a mechanical separator.

“For about six months of the year we can apply the effluent straight from the dairy through the pond to the paddocks using a travelling irrigator but the other six months it just sits there because the ground is too wet to put it on.”

Either way, the Biobugs are doing their thing. A dispenser at the sump releases concentrated bacteria as a liquid at timed intervals and Wendelgelst also adds 250g water-soluble pouches to the pond. All the products used are imported from Canada, and are full of bacteria which are found naturally in New Zealand soils.

“Dropping the pouches into the effluent really increases the population of bacteria quickly,” BioBugs managing director Bruce Harrington said.

“They start working immediately and will multiply seven times in a day. In time you can see the effluent in the ponds bubbling and upwelling due to their activity.”

And they don’t seem to mind the cold southern winters, still working away as usual.

As well as getting rid of the smell, the bacteria help to break down the effluent so a stirrer isn’t needed in the pond. They also continue working when applied to pasture.

“The bacteria strains in BioBugs are the same as what you would find in the soil in paddocks, we’re just putting more on, and it’s this bacteria that breaks down organic matter and releases nutrients locked up in the soil. It’s usual to see a lot more earthworms after using BioBugs,” Harrington said.

“The soil structure also becomes a lot more friable, increasing water retention and there are lower levels of nitrates so less worries of leaching into waterways.

“It does happen from time to time, cows stray on to paddocks being irrigated but no harm is done to the cows. 

“Irrigated pastures treated with the Biobugs system have a high sugar content that is what cows like to eat. Healthy soil, healthy pasture, healthy cows, it’s a good mix,” Harrington said.

“The importing of BioBugs is approved by the Ministry for Primary Industries, ERMA and under the HSNO Act,” Harrington said. 

“In North America you can’t apply effluent to soils unless it has been treated biologically first.”

Harrington services the dispenser once a month, replacing the batteries, checking everything is working and refilling it with the concentrated liquid bacteria.

“I don’t do a thing, I don’t even think about it,” Wendelgelst said.

The dispensers remain the property of BioBugs and the 12-month treatment plan costs between $7 and $8.50/cow/year excluding GST.

“If a wintering barn is part of the system then it’s a little bit more,” Harrington said.

Harrington, who runs the company with his wife Jenny, lives in Gore and travels through most of the South Island but freights BioBugs to clients further away.

“We’ve got 25 dairy customers so far in the South Island and we’re even supplying a truck wash in the North Island. Plus we sell treatments for septic tanks.”

Darrell and Julie are applying their effluent to the dairy platform and to the run off using either a travelling irrigator or a slurry tanker and last year used no fertiliser. They intend to do the same this year.

“It’s a huge cost saving,” Wendelgelst said. “We still put some sulphur on and we intend to do soil tests at the end of this season to see where we’re at but so far the grass is looking good.

“With the bacteria, we’re getting more bang for our buck when we’re putting the effluent on the paddocks and we’re certainly seeing the response.”

Total
0
Shares
People are also reading