Liquid Manure spreading takes the right equipment and patience. You need to know how much your farm needs to be ready to start taking care of your crops. But, what do you do after you have purchased your liquid manure spreader? That’s why High Tech Equipment is here to answer your most immediate questions before you start spreading liquid manure.

When should you spread manure?

You should try to spread manure in the spring before planting. The very end of winter/early spring tends to be the best time to spread manure. That’s because it’s the point of the year when your soil is most starved for nutrients. In order to maximize your yield, early manure deployment can help provide most of those nutrients back to the soil.

If successfully deployed early, you can then minimize your fertilizer costs. Everyone likes saving money, but there are other questions about your manure needs. Especially when it comes to liquid manure.

Is liquid manure safe?

Liquid manure is so safe that it can be disposed of in ways that other plant fertilize can not be removed. However, care must be taken to make sure it doesn’t reach a local water supply. Your local county will have rules and regulations about such a thing. But, that’s to be expected for most farm materials.

If you want to hear something crazy, there has been reports that breathing in cow manure can help reduce lung cancer. While that story is 13 years old, reports like this crop from time to time around the globe. The key point is that liquid manure is safe. It’s smelly like most manure, but it’s safe.

How do you spread manure on fields?

Spreading manure on fields takes a degree of effort and skill. First, make sure you’re not spreading manure on slopes. Even with the best tillage efforts, slopes lead to manure runoff. Keep the manures with your crops! Beyond that, there are certain best practices that overlap with other things we’ve discussed.

As discussed with the slopes, be mindful of how everything drains. You don’t want to waste manure. Also, you should be using less than 5,000 gallons or equal to that amount of liquid manure per acre. While that might sound like a lot on paper, it will help maintain a proper nutrient balance that you can record for your personal use.

Which should you use? Fertilizer or Manure?

The age old question returns again for another spring season of planting crops. Should you use fertilizer or manure? Depending on what site you visit or person you ask, the advice they give will be at odds with each other. A long time ago, farmers would recommend spreading manure in the Fall.

That way the manure has time to break down and not risk burning plant and top soil coverage. Plus, manure added to soil helps loosen compacted chunks of soil that tend to stick together during the winter. Manure has its dedicated fanbase due to the fact that it’s natural. Most fertilizers are chemically crafted to provide the absolute best answer to certain kinds of soil.

Nothing beats soil. But, if you want to use fertilizer, there are some things to consider. Fertilizer by itself doesn’t get the double helping factor that manure by itself gets. When you use manure, it’s meant to be a fertilizer and soil amendment. However, fertilizer by itself is just fertilizer chemically designed to support certain settings.

If you need a quick fix for a single issue, fertilizer might work best for you. But, if you’re looking to add to your soil and fertilizer your crops, then liquid manure spreading will work for you.

How much manure do I add to soil?

Your soil can only handle so much manure. The rule of thumb is to use 20 to 30 pounds of manure for every 100 square feet of farm area. Mix the fresh manure with the soil before adding plants.

Some will say that fresh manure can injured plant life. That’s the case if you’re just backing up the manure truck and unloading the smelly load all over your soil. As with most things, it’s a matter of using your best judgment.

The key is making sure that you use the manure to prep the soil, rather than using it to supplement the pre-existing crops. That will cause soil burning.

Liquid Manure Spreading at High Tech Equipment

High Tech Equipment is here for all of your liquid manure spreading needs. Check out the GEA Houle options we have able for your liquid manure spreading needs.