Second Cut

Soil temperatures and grass growth were continued to be monitored. Soil temperatures were up to 13/14°C on all three farms between the 10th – 20th June.  However, between the 24th and 28th of June temperatures on all 3 farms were up to 15-16°C, which is consistent with the increase in air temperatures. Received results back from FBA which will be statistically analysed along with all other results. Soil and herbage samples were taken and sent to FBA for SR3 and Mineral trace scan and feed analysis. Prof Charles Spillane and Dr Galina Brychkova visited all three farm plots on Monday 17th June. On advisement a weed assessment was carried out on Farm A and Farm C as well as a red clover : ryegrass % was calculated and both results will be analysed. On Thursday all 3 farm plots were mown and the grass was gathered and weighed to compare digestate v’s chemical fertilizer plots. There was exponential differences with digestate fertilized showing much higher yields. Another round of digestate and chemical fertilizer will be applied next week.

Week 18-20

Soil temperatures and grass growth were continued to be monitored. Soil temperatures are continuing were up to 13/14°C on all three farms between the 20th and 31st of May.  However, between the 4th and 8th of June temperatures on all 3 farms dropped by a degree, which corresponds to lower air temperatures. Results are still pending on samples sent on the 13th May. Another batch of samples was taken on Thursday 6th June. Soil and herbage samples were taken and sent to FBA for SR3 and Mineral trace scan and feed analysis. A separate batch of soil and herbage samples were taken and sent to JHG for microbiological and chemical soil analysis as well as hormonal analysis on the herbage. On Thursday last (30th May), I was invited to attend with Tom a demonstration at BHSL in Limerick which operates a Fluridised Bed Combustion system to convert the untreated poultry manure into energy for heating, cooling and electricity generation to meet the energy needs of the farms. The demonstration was by Jack O’Connor, one of the founding members of BHSL. Another set of drone pictures were taken on all three farms to see the progress of regrowth on all plots.

Farm A
Farm B
Farm C

Bird’s Eye View

The past two weeks I continued to monitor the soil plots in terms of temperature and grass growth. On Monday, soil temperatures were taken and dropped to an average of approximately 9.9 ºC. Drone pictures were taken on all three farms to fully visualize the effect of the digestate on grass growth. Soil samples and herbage samples were taken and sent to FBA laboratories for SR3 and Feed analysis. A separate batch of soil samples was sent to JHG Analytical services for microbiological analysis. I will be visiting JHG laboratories for a meeting on soil analysis next week. The grass on 2 of the farms will also be cut next week with a mower as the grass cover is gone too high. The second round of chemical fertilizer will be applied after grass has been cut in the next two weeks.