Giles’s background in farm management, ICI Agricultural Division as a Farm Management Specialist and then Regional Technical Specialist, has given him the expertise to help assess business strategy, give advice on the use of crop and soil nutrients, and he wrote and uses one of the first commercial P & K balance sheet programs. In 1993 he became the agricultural consultant to Epizym Ltd, which distributes additives proven to liquefy and deordorise slurry in livestock systems.

The nutrient planning work is pertinent both to directing money where the crops can benefit most but also to be cognisant of current issues/regulations such as NVZ, Catchment Sensitive Farming, phosphate loss and the use of manures.

“In my 36 years in agriculture the effective management of slurry has been a headache for many farmers and it doesn’t need to be”, says Giles. “Rather than being a headache, slurry should be viewed as a farm asset. For example, based on recent prices for N, P and K fertilisers, a 1000-place finishing pig unit can produce slurry with a value of around £4,358 each year. Slurry produced by 100 dairy cows over a winter housing period has a potential value of almost £3,800. †

He goes on to explain that crusting, mixing, spreading and smell are problems most commonly faced by farmers, as well as regulatory issues. “IPPC in the pig industry and NVZs for cattle have raised concerns, but these are not insurmountable problems”.  Details on Epizym’s slurry products can be found at www.epizym.com

Giles can be contacted on 01787 278240 or e-mail GTDadd@aol.com

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