Slurry Tanker: Dave’s Keeping The Cows Happy

‘I test every paddock on the farm and apply the base fert required for each paddock. From there it’s just about maintaining the soil nutrient levels to ensure sustained growth through the season.’
David Smith – Dairy Farmer, Taranaki

When it comes to effluent management, Dave was already set up with a concrete lined effluent pond with electric stirrer, and he’d pump out to travelling irrigators.

He’s very careful with his fertiliser spend, and with the rising cost of synthetic fertiliser and the need to spread effluent over the entire farm, Dave could see the benefit of investing in a slurry tanker.

‘I was originally looking at the 8,000L, but then the 10,000L became available. Moving to the next size up would mean every 4th load is free, and the new 115HP tractor could handle it, so it was more efficient to go for the bigger size.’

Now Dave’s looking forward to spreading those free nutrients over the entire farm and cutting back on the synthetics!