A Partner with Agra-Gold Consulting says by manipulating the pump-out from a two cell manure storage applicators can direct the high phosphorus portion of manure to fields that are short of phosphorus.
One of the most effective manure processing tools is a simple two-cell manure storage in which over 90 percent of the phosphorus will go to the bottom of the primary cell.
“Phosphorus Capture From Manure” was discussed this month as part of the 2019 Manitoba Swine Seminar.
Scott Dick, with Agra-Gold Consulting, says by manipulating the pump-out you can target low phosphorus fields with the high phosphorus manure and use the more watery manure on the fields that may have a buildup.
MLMMI studied three different techniques and one was the traditional style where they agitate the primary cell and they start emptying it and then they bleed back liquids from that second cell into the primary cell and they do that throughout the pump-out. Another way and maybe where there is phosphorus concerns you can then start treating that two cell system as two very separate cells. Empty them separately, don’t do any commingling or mixing of the two cells and so then the primary cell solely, which is about 35 percent of the pump-out, can go on your phosphorus deficient fields and the secondary cell only can go on fields that maybe have a higher level of phosphorus in them.
If you want to take that to an extreme, the third method that they looked at was the decant method and in that method they actually skimmed off some of the top liquid from that primary cell and put it in the second cell. They concentrated even further the amount of phosphorus that was in the liquid in the primary cell. That product was then hauled out using tankers and it was hauled several miles away to phosphorus deficient fields and then the secondary cell was put on to closer land with the drag line system.
~ Scott Dick, Agra-Gold Consulting
Dick says by manipulating and using different techniques for emptying the two cell manure storage, you can economically manage the phosphorus and segregated products quite well.
