DAIry Today labour plays a big part in running a large scale dairy farm. With a Busch Effluent Spreader and storage, (a requirement of most new dairy shed consents), the effluent applicator will only have to be shifted once every four, five or even six days. Thus the Busch machine can be put into a freshly grazed paddock — without fouling the cows’ breakfast! This is
only possible with this size applicator, as it applies the effluent to a sizeable area each run. There will be a number of conditions that farmers will have to adhere to under new regulations. These will include all of the details on an Ecan discharge consent, plus other statutory conditions, local body conditions, and any national statutes set
by Government. The Busch Effluent Applicator comes complete with a shutoff valve and a tracking system, and can meet all of these conditions, as set out in the Dairy Effluent Code. Similar claims cannot be made by all of the rotary boom effluent spreaders that are being sold today. The Busch Effluent Applicator can apply effluent
November 2012
over an area of 2.86 hectares in one pass. Compare this to older, smaller machines which are still operating throughout the country, which cover about 0.5 hectare per shift. The benefits of a larger machine include less labour, greater accuracy in application depth, and the ability to apply effluent where and when required. In the past most dairy
effluent schemes were addons — the shed got built, an effluent pump was installed into a small collection chamber, some underground reticulation was installed to carry effluent to outside the yard area, and then some above-ground polyethylene pipe was used to carry the effluent out to a small applicator. As herd numbers increased and the area around the shed become completely saturated, these systems grew. To overcome friction within these expanded systems, pump size necessarily increased. Some performance gains were rendered with larger
will “There be a number
of conditions that farmers will have to adhere to under new regulations.
”
the Busch effluent applicator meets ecan statutory requirements
31
pumping units, but due to the large length of reticulation pipework, most of the potential gain was left in the sump. Additionally, the increase in pressure often caused small effluent applicators to turn into a ‘helicopter’ — rotating at such high speeds that they eventually wore out! Today there are many ways of applying effluent to the soil, some of them more successful than others. There are systems which operate with an underslung sprinkler system on a pivot irrigator, or direct effluent injection into a pivot irrigator. The current underslung system has a very poor uniformity of application, and it is difficult to know where this effluent is being applied. For the injection system, it is often difficult to establish a uniform and even mix. It is the belief of Busch that soil testing will show up the inadequacies in both of these systems — the real way forward, combining maximum durability and ease of use with adherence to new industry guidelines, is to adopt a purpose built rotary boom effluent applicator system.
Ashburton Irrigation Services Ltd For prompt repair and servicing of all Irrigation Equipment call
Doug Smith 027
282 2245 Ben Busch 027 630 2978
Field Service Technicians specialising in Rotary Boom Irrigators Office and Store 03 308 1236 PO Box 224 ASHBURTON
Effluent Applicator Busch Irrigation Systems of Ashburton have developed a very robust mid–size effluent applicator, (it is no Matchbox toy) that can meet the new effluent standards, operating at a very high distributions uniformity as described in the attached editorial.
Ideally suited to large herds. Nothing else in the market will match it. Contact Derek Busch 03 308 1236 0274 333 117 or fax 03 307 1242 Proud suPPorters of Busch irrigation systems Ltd
Earthmoving machinEry rEpair Work • Contract Machinery • Fertiliser Spreaders • CNC Profile and HD Plasma Cutting • Transport Decks, Crates• Recycling Presses Manufactured
Proud to Support and Supply Busch Irrigation
www.pumpandvalve.com
EnginEEring rEpairs (2012) Ltd 14 Watson Street, Industrial Estate, Ashburton Ph 03 308 1506 | Fax 03 308 1516 | engrep@xtra.co.nz