When is the best time to conduct digestate spreading?

As the popularity of digestate has grown, so too has the number of farmers choosing to implement their own digestate solutions. Many farms are now favouring digestate spreading over traditional spreading methods, like slurry or artificial fertilisers.

According to Farmers Weekly, using anaerobic digestate to feed arable crops can save farmers up to £110/ha on bagged fertiliser costs. When used correctly, the product can help restore soil health, repair local ecosystems, enhance worm activity and allow farmers to gain more grazing days. 

While the benefits of utilising a digestate solution are regularly lauded, you should also be mindful of the number of restrictions surrounding the application of the product. Not only can incorrect use have an adverse effect on your land, but it could also get you in serious trouble with the law.

Optimum digestate spreading times

In its liquid state, digestate is a volatile substance, and its quality can easily be impaired. If the product isn’t stored correctly, or spreading doesn’t take place during optimum times, then it can become susceptible to ammonia volatilisation into the atmosphere, or nitrate leaching into nearby water sources. 

The application of digestate spreading is carried out in line with the current Cross Compliance Guidelines, but generally takes place from late winter through to the end of summer. Application of the product should be avoided during the autumn months, as nitrogen will not typically be absorbed effectively by arable crops during this time.  

Current NVZ closed period dates 

To make sure that your digestate spreading complies with the current Cross Compliance Guide, the NFU has put together a handy guide to help. During these times, livestock slurries, digestate products and poultry manures cannot be applied to land.

Closed period for livestock slurries, digestate and poultry manures

The current closed period for applying organic manure with high readily available nitrogen content (including liquid anaerobic digestate) are as follows:

Always check the weather forecast

When it comes to digestate spreading, careful planning is crucial. In order to minimise losses and reduce the odour of the product, digestate should be stored in and applied during good growing conditions, using a band applicator or shallow injection system. With the weather quickly changing from warm and dry to wet and cold, agricultural services and practises will be changing alongside the seasons.

Digestate and slurry need optimum conditions in order to be most effective and reduce the risk of run-off and the subsequent pollution that this can cause to nearby water sources and the risk it can pose to the immediately adjacent wildlife. By not planning your spreading or injecting activities in line with the weather, you may also not see the optimum effects of this service, and result in a reduced output of crops.

Avoiding digestate spreading is also advised during the following scenarios:

• The land is waterlogged, covered in snow or frozen
• Heavy rainfall is forecast within 48 hours (or it is already raining heavily)
• During periods of heavy snow
• The soil has cracked down to the field drains
• A field has been pipe or mole drained
• A field has been sub-soiled over drains within the past twelve months

Similarly, digestate solutions are not suitable for every farm. It is the responsibility of you, the farmer or landowner, to ensure that adequate checks have been undertaken to assess the quality of your land, and make sure that digestate spreading doesn’t take place in the following circumstances:

• Where the land is located within 10 metres of a ditch, pond or water surface
• Where the land is located within 50 metres of a water supply used by human or dairy farms (including springs, boreholes or reservoirs)
• Where the land is situated on a steep slope.

Failing to comply with these rules could land your business in serious legal trouble – polluting water sources during spreading could incur a fine of up to £20,000.

Techniques

In order to reduce the risk of pollution, digestate storage, handling and spreading should be carefully planned. Digestate spreading is not possible during periods of very heavy rain and snow, with the inclement weather making the ground water-logged or frozen, making the necessity for good quality and sizable digestate storage solutions more critical than ever.

Understanding the size of your land is important when it comes to spreading digestate in wet conditions, ensuring that you measure the correct amount of digestate slurry. You should then ensure that you only apply enough digestate product to allow capacity for the coming weeks, up to three weeks in total. It may also be wise to apply a diluted digestate mix which can reduce the risk of nutrient loss.

Cost saving

Digestate for farming service spreading is a valuable asset and where it is used correctly, at the right time in the right way, it can prove to save you a great deal of money, compared to artificial fertilisers. By spreading early in the spring, digestate can be at it’s most effective and should typically avoid the mid-late spring showers.

Digestate and slurry should be applied on silage areas, with application preferable after early grazing, prior to closing up for the first cut silage. However, due to weather and other barriers, digestate may be spread partly in spring, partly in summer and the remainder in autumn.

Storage

Maintaining the quality of your digestate solution and reducing the risk of overflowing and rainwater dilution can be achieved by implementing an effective digestate storage system. Depending on the amount of digestate needed for your land, you will need an effective storage solution to ensure that it’s kept away from the elements and ready to spread when the weather permits or crops are at their peak growth point.

A digestate storage solution or tank can also reduce the ammonia emissions from your farm by retaining the gas under a cover. For even the largest of tanks or lagoons, a custom sheet can be created to ensure that the ammonia lost into the atmosphere is reduced and removes the need to wait for a crust to form on the top of the pool and reduces the fuss of removing it when required.

Utilising AWSM Farming’s digestate spreading services

Here at AWSM Farming, we specialise in digestate spreading. We offer our customers a highly effective, professionally-completed fertilisation system that is tailored to best suit the needs of your land, while being economically-friendly.

Working with our teams of agricultural contractors, we can construct suitable digestate storage in as little as 48 hours. Choosing to utilise local digestate storage can increase the ease of use of the product on your land, while minimising the likelihood of missing vital spreading days because the product isn’t readily available. 

If your fields require a specialist digestate spreading service, or you simply wish to find out more about our effective digestate spreading services, contact AWSM Farming today.