Cheap measures provide dairy farmer with huge savings

Dairy farmers John and Anna Booth, of Rhual Farm, near Mold, in Flintshire, received the top award from Welsh Assembly Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones, at the Royal Welsh Show on Monday in recognition of their efforts to better manage their farm slurry and effluent.

A joint venture by Environment Agency Wales and Farming Connect, the Welsh Assembly Government’s support service for farmers, the award aims to recognise and reward farmers who make small scale changes to their farms in order to both improve profits and benefit the local environment.

The couple keep 300 dairy cows and 150 followers under a share farming partnership agreement with John’s father Reg and the landowner Major Basil Heaton. The farm extends to some 545 acres.

The partnership has been progressively modernising Rhual Farm and its infrastructure, including looking at ways to minimise the volume of slurry being produced.

One of the major problems has been the large volume of roof water flowing off farm buildings. So a programme was established to separate as much clean roof water from the slurry collection and dirty yard areas.

These have included the large yards near silage clamps which, even when empty, can still channel a significant volume of accumulated rainwater into the “dirty water” system.

Both clean and dirty areas around the farm were also identified in order to devise a comprehensive slurry management plan.

With typically 60 per cent of the annual average rainfall falling between November and March ─ the main housing period  for the cows ─ the plan also looked at the options for roofing over cattle feeding yards to discourage winter rainwater from entering the slurry collection system.

Simpler, low cost solutions were also explored to re-direct clean water away from stock areas.

A comprehensive review of guttering revealed that simply by reversing the flow direction a significant amount of clean, uncontaminated roof water could be kept away from the slurry.

Future plans include roofing over feeding yard areas where there is currently partial roofing on the feed channels and increasing the use of the low rate irrigation system to deal with parlour washings.

“We recognised that there was a lot of effluent being generated on the farm so we looked at the best options to separate out as much of the clean water as we could,” says John.

“We have been able to use some of the roof water for washing down and so have saved ourselves time, money and resources in the process.

“Some of the things we have done have been as simple as mixing a bucket of concrete to install a ’sleeping policeman’ in the yard to direct water where we want it to go.”

Winter rainfall alone can account for about 0.5 cubic metres (110 gallons) of water for every square metre of roof area or ground.

But if effectively separated it can be put to good use for stock watering or washing down collecting yards, as well as offering a cost-effective solution for reducing water bills.

With the annual cost of drinking water per cow around £70 ─ a fact often overlooked ─ this is an important added benefit.

Another key element of the programme was to make certain that the ‘clean water’ system was regularly inspected and maintained ensuring that any damage caused by stock or farm machinery was identified and repaired as soon as possible.

Where downspouts were considered to be in high risk locations, appropriate protection was installed to minimise possible damage.

Overall, the works at Rhual Farm to date have significantly reduced effluent volumes and made site management considerably easier than it was previously.

According to Chris Mills, director of Environment Agency Wales, slurry storage can be a real headache over the winter months yet really small changes can make a huge difference.

“Now that John and Anna have control over their slurry, they can make the most of the nutrients for their crops and not have to waste time and money spreading it when they have no need to.

“It will really increase their profit margins, which is vital for anyone in the dairy sector.”

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