The Sassafras River Association has secured a grant to purchase a Subsurfer unit to aid farmers with the issue concerning traditional tillage and no-tillage systems. No-till systems preserve the soil and reduce the amount of sediment entering the nearby streams. Although the system minimizes the amount of sediment pollution, it also makes it difficult for the farmer to incorporate manure well enough to keep nitrogen from running off the field into the water. Traditional tillage systems allow for manure incorporation, but cause sediment pollution. The tradeoff for good nitrogen incorporation into the soil is soil disturbance and loss.
The Subsurfer is a custom built prototype dry manure injector capable of planting poultry litter several inches under the soil surface, while maintaining 100% of the ground cover.
The unit is in its final stages of development and is showing enormous potential for reducing manure runoff in no-till systems. SRA expects to begin demoing the equipment to local farmers before the 2012 planting season and will be looking for individuals interested in putting the unit to the test.
Working with University of Maryland, the testing of the equipment will involve setting up check strips and in-field monitoring. Interested farmers should contact Josh Thompson at (302) 841-0176 or [email protected] for more information or to set up a demo of the unit.
Joe Diamond says
Looks good for run off,
If it injects nitrogen (N) in a safe manner that can be a good thing…for nitrogen-heavy manure.
But I thought the biggest issue was the K…the potassium….the big ingredient in chicken manure. Will this thing deal with the apparent saturation of K in many fields, thus finding a use for the mountains of chicken droppings that need a home somewhere?
Joe