A range of the latest SlurryKat equipment is now responsible for spreading all the slurry produced at one of Northern Ireland’s main agricultural research institutes
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12m trailing shoe with 800m front reeler
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The farm is home to a number of livestock enterprises producing around 4.5 million gallons of slurry per year and farming 800 acres of grass and cereal land.
“This customer required the latest and most efficient slurry technology to process all its own slurry production,” says Garth Cairns, SlurryKat CEO and principal engineer. “Due to the distance of some of the land from its slurry source, we use a fleet of ferry tankers with transfer booms, which offload into a 65 cubic metre mobile nurse tank.
“This, in turn, feeds a highly efficient umbilical system with direct soil surface application via a 12-metre Premium Plus trailing shoe injector to reduce the number of passes in each field.
“There are a number of advantages to using this system, including a significant reduction in soil compaction and adhering to the strict ammonia emissions restrictions.
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Close-up of trailing shoe depositing slurry
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“All applications are monitored with John Deere’s precision NIR and SlurryKat Flowmeter systems, which not only control volume spread but also unit applications of N, P, and K.”
Spreading the slurry is a tractor with Autotrac, coupled to a SlurryKat umbilical trailing shoe system with an integrated Doda AFI HD35 high-pressure centrifugal pump with an inlet chopping system.
Also in the line-up are three 16 cubic metre SlurryKat ferrying slurry tankers, a SlurryKat 65 cubic metre mobile nurse tank with integrated Doda pump, SlurryKat front and rear drop-off hose reelers, and 1800 metres of 5″ Oroflex hose with patented stainless steel SlurryKat rotating swivel couplings.
“We’re achieving an application rate of 170 to 240 cubic metres per hour depending on varying factors. The trailing shoe delivers the slurry in a uniform and precise line on the soil surface without soiling the crop leaves and avoids slurry being smeared by the trailing umbilical hose onto the crop foliage,” says Garth.
“With this reduction of exposed slurry surface area, less ammonia is lost to the atmosphere and more valuable nutrients from the slurry are absorbed and retained in the soil.”
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Ferry tanker delivering slurry to nurse tank
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Keeping soil compaction to a minimum Garth adds, “SlurryKat trailing shoes are built to be as light as possible using high-quality, strong, yet lightweight UK steel. By using the umbilical system, we’re keeping soil compaction to a minimum as heavy tankers filled with slurry are being kept off the fields.
“Also, tractors and tankers are not driving over the same gateways and ground to reach the furthest away fields, which can erode grass and soil.
“The tractor used on the trailing shoe has low-pressure tyres to further reduce soil compaction and field damage.”
These lightweight SlurryKat machines also require less fuel to operate, compared to other brands, therefore making savings on energy costs, too.
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