The Power of Poo
It’s that time of year again when the morning chorus is getting louder, the daffodils with their nodding bonnets are lifting us from our winter blues and the genteel primroses are shyly peeking out from the hedgerows. Soon the bluebells will be coming into flower and we can look forward to their heady aroma in a few weeks time.
But let’s not get too poetic as there’s another aroma being blown on the wind which also signifies spring. It’s muck-spreading time folks! We apologise in advance for anyone with delicate nostrils, but the power of poo is like catnip to all us farmers. Without it we would be lost. In fact, those farmers who rely on artificial fertilisers are starting to feel the pinch. With the cost of fertiliser rising from £250 per tonne to a whopping £1000 per tonne, UK food production is facing a very pricey future.
Here at Oak Park Dairy, we don’t use artificial fertilisers. We have always relied on what our Girls have produced naturally to put back fertility in to our fields – an ample, year round supply of good old fashioned manure. For all you avid gardeners out there, you’ll know the importance of putting back nutrients into your veg patch once you have harvested your crops. Well it’s exactly the same here, only on a larger scale.
N, P & K - those three little letters that a budding young farmer learns before their A B C are key to ensuring the balance of a fertile soil. Good quality, composted manure is the perfect organic matter to put back the Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium (Potash) so important for soil fertility. It also improves soil structure by encouraging worm activity which in turn aerates the soil. Our farm is a little different in that we get additional benefits on top of the traditional ones, by harnessing the power that our cow manure possesses. Eight years ago we set up an anaerobic digester, AD plant, on the farm to produce enough energy to power our farms’ electricity needs in addition to supplying surplus energy back to the National Grid.
Anaerobic digesters work using micro-organisms that feed on cow manure and other organic matter to produce energy. This energy takes the form of a biogas. This biogas is then pumped into a generator to create electricity. The balance of manure, plant matter and warmth is critical to keeping the little organisms content. Too much of one manure and they don’t like it. Too little and they show their discontent by going into a dormant state. In fact not too dissimilar to Goldilocks.
But, we have the power of technology at our fingertips. Any dip in our friendly organisms activity and Matthew is sent a text which notifies him of any imbalance in their happiness. (No, the organisms can’t text – they don’t have thumbs) Basically, when the AD plant says “Feed me”, Matthew has to quickly supply some more cow manure into the ravenous creature. Just think of it as having a hungry hippo in your garden.
Apart from its demanding nature, the ‘Hippo’ is very beneficial to our farm and we wouldn’t be without it. As well as the electric supply, it also provides us with good, friable composted manure and a liquid fertiliser that we put back on to our fields. It is enabling us to operate more sustainably and subsequently be far more self-sufficient.
In recent weeks, the talk of fracking (drilling for shale gas) has risen its head again. Drilling deep underground to release natural gas that has taken millions of years to form seems rather destructive doesn’t it? We’d rather stick with natural cow power thank you.