It was an exciting morning here on the ranch! Not the kind where the cows get out and lots of flagrant words are spewed into the air. More like jumping up and down, like a kid on Christmas morning!
Brett got a new manure spreader!
I know, I know, its not everyone’s idea of a great gift. But, for us it was exciting. First off, its one of the very few items that we have ever bought brand spankin’ new! Literally I think it’s the third thing ever to arrive here with new paint and the stickers still on it. Why? Because farm equipment is expensive! So buying used is always our first option. And second, these cows around here produce a whole lotta, well, crap. It is a great fertilizer, if you have a way to disperse it. So that’s the other reason we are excited. No more big piles of poo just laying around.
Brett is a professional, an aficionado, an expert in the field of searching out the best (or, um, cheapest) way to buy equipment. The one thing about manure spreaders is they take a beating –literally. Paddles or belts toss the hunks of poo all over a pasture, while being pulled behind a tractor. Which also shakes and beats the spreader continuously. So, everything used he found in his search was worn plumb out. But, low and behold, he spotted a shiny new yellow spreader one day. Which just so happens to be manufactured by a company that is owned and operated by two of my friends from high school! Small world! So what’s better than buying a new manure spreader? Buying one from another farm family!
The Man-ufacturer behind the manure spreader
This spreader is called a TerraKat. David Foster is the brains behind the company. And let me say, he is a professional in the world of manure dispersal. David and his wife own and manage his family’s dairy farm. Dairymen know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to dealing with loads of cow manure. So we totally trusted David to build us an amazing machine! First we had to decide on the size, and then David put it in to production….in Turkey! Yep, the TerraKat is built in Turkey, then shipped over to Kansas where David and his crew assemble the mammoth machine. Pretty cool!
Spring Poo Planting
Until the ground, and um, poo piles thaw out, we will just have to admire the shiny yellow implement in the driveway. Then I suppose, come spring, there will be some manure spreading training happening here. I totally mean Audrey and Maggie. Not me! LOL. Well maybe I will help. It is still fun and new. But come round number 247, I will be headed to the house to cook dinner.
The Organic Benefits of Cattle Manure
- Increased soil carbon and reduced atmospheric carbon levels
- Reduced soil erosion and runoff
- Reduced nitrate leaching
- Reduced energy demands for fertilizers
Manure contains valuable plant nutrients, like nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sulfur (S). Manure nutrients come from the feed that the animals have eaten. In fact, most of the nutrients that animals eat end up in their manure. For example, more than 75% of the nitrogen and more than 65% of the phosphorus that a steer eats will be passed into the manure. Source
Efficient and environmentally responsible use of livestock manure provides a valuable source of nutrients, organic matter and carbon to pastures and cropland. As a low input by-product, manure offers a long-term source of nutrients that can influence soil properties, increase soil carbon and nitrogen, and alter soil phosphorus and potassium concentrations along with other nutrients. Source
Pasture image courtesy TerraKat
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