Success stories - pig farmers - cattle farmers
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Appleby, Cumbria
Dairy farmer, 80 cows 160 acres |
“This product has greatly reduced the crust on my slurry tank and odour levels on and around my farm have noticeably decreased.”
The main reason was the crust on my slurry tank. I had a defective slurry pump which meant I couldn’t agitate the slurry as much as I usually do before it went into the store.
I saw a feature in a British Dairying publication. I called up and spoke with a distributor. I tried the product and after about 6 weeks saw that it had prevented a full crust forming.
It has saved me money as I don’t spend as much time agitating. The mixture is now even and ready to spread virtually straight from the store.
Although crusting was the problem that motived me to try it, there’s been a noticeable and welcome reduction in odour. At agitation time the smell used to come over to the house. There’s a retail unit called The Wedding Barn selling wedding dresses on the site, so prevention of odour was obviously a good thing to be aiming for! Since using the Epizym the smell is no longer an issue. One time I didn’t use the Epizym and the smell came straight back.
Yes – it reduces crusts, odour and generally eases slurry handling.
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Hilltop Farm, Leyburn
120 cows,
100,000 gallon tin tank and 2.5m gallon lagoon |
”We only needed to stir once – there was no crust whatsoever. ”
We constructed the lagoon last September. As it’s so big we wanted to avoid a crust from the outset. We also wanted to make the most of the slurry in terms of nutrient value.
I’d heard of Epizym in the magazines and my Carrs Billington rep Jim McRobert suggested I try it from day one with the lagoon to avoid problems later. The idea was to use the tin tank as a kind of ‘culture pot’ for the bugs, putting them in there to ‘feed’ the lagoon, start it off as it were. We have a contractor come to pump the slurry out of the tin tank and up to the lagoon on a regular basis.
We applied the product as per the instructions. After a while we did a couple of pumps up to the lagoon. We only needed to stir once – there was no crust whatsoever. Previously it had taken half a day to stir. The solids would be on the top, liquids underneath. After Epizym it is a consistent mix.
It’s brilliant not having a crust – it just looks like there’s water in the lagoon, not slurry. Birds sit around the edges of the lagoon like it was a pond.
From a nutrient point of view, we had some slurry analysed. Whilst we don’t have analysis results before using Epizym, the results that came back were brilliant:
Per 1000 gallons of fresh slurry:
Nitrogen – 29.46 units
Phosphorous – 9.99 units
Potassium – 39.33 units
I spread with a splash plate, and I realise that means only 50% of the nutrients will be available, so maximising what is available is important to me.
Our main aim is not to have to stir the lagoon much at all. We’ve been using it since February and we’ve only had to stir it once – and it took no more than an hour. So hopefully we should only need to stir it 1-2 times a year. This is big saving in terms of hassle and time.
The farm is near a town and when we spread it still smells, but it’s definitely not as pungent. There is no smell off the lagoon either.
We spread some of the slurry onto grazing ground, and as the consistency is closer to water, it goes into the ground quicker and the muck doesn’t cling to the blades of grass. The result is I can spread with a splash plate and with the right weather conditions the cows can be grazing again in 7-8 days.
Yes, definitely, it’s doing everything it said it would, which is all you can ask for.
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Wigtown, Newton Stewart
230 milkers, 500 head in total with beef
Tower, tanks and a 600,000 gallon lagoon |
”Epizym helps get the maximum out of slurry.”
Stirring. We were spending an intolerable about of time on it. I needed to know we weren’t just taking the liquid out. With only two of us here and cows to milk seven days we only get a small amount of time in the afternoons to pump and spread. The land goes one mile one way and two and a half miles the other way, uphill. Transporting the slurry takes a long time, so anything that saves us time is what we need. We do use contractors to help with the work.
We were organic up until about a year ago. I know there’s huge benefit to be gained from using slurry properly, especially the time factors and the logistics of having it ready to spread.
Simon, our Harbro salesman suggested we try Epizym. We put it into the tower and tanks which then ‘fed’ the lagoon, so we didn’t need to treat the lagoon itself. The slurry in the lagoon is now spreadable within 10 minutes and does not crust. The tanks used to take a day to a day and half to stir. Now it’s far quicker than this and the slurry is always liquid and ready to spread. It doesn’t stick to the grass.
We have one underground tank which for one reason and another we cannot treat with Epizym. It’s a youngstock building and is always a problem, whereas the others are not. I know Epizym would make a huge difference if we could use it in there.
Time, diesel, and I’m quite sure I’m saving on the chemical fertiliser also.
Yes, I’ve noticed the smell does not linger as much as it used to, it drops to the ground and doesn’t stick to the leaves. Just as well, as we have neighbours around us and the fewer the complaints the happier I am.
Yes, Epizym helps get the maximum out of slurry, but even if it just saves on tractor time and hassle it’s worth it.
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Low Thoresby, Redmire
Milking 90 cows + followers, 180 acres
Steel ring tower, holds 5 months of slurry |
”The day after I put the product in I could see it had started to work, the surface was bubbling away.”
I’d read about it. With fertiliser prices the way they were I thought I’d give it a go. Crust was a secondary issue. Every time I spread and stir, I think of the diesel I use. I use a side stirrer and a jet. The crust is usually up to a foot thick.
The day after I put the product in I could see it had started to work, the surface was bubbling away.
I put it in in December 2008 and spread it in March 2009 on meadowland. Instead of putting two and a half bags of fertiliser on I put on one bag only. I’ve saved at least £3,000. Also, my mixing time is reduced from 1 hour to 20 minutes.
Finally, I’ve noticed that using more slurry over bagged nitrogen the grass does not rot at the bottom. The result was my first cut this year was one of the biggest I’ve ever had. The slurry seems to soak in a lot better and we’ve been able to use the splash plate.
Absolutely. I’ve told lots of folk already about it.
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Penkiln Farm, Garlieston, Newton Stewart
230 milkers, 80 loose housing, 600 acres
350,000 gallon round tower |
”The smell was greatly reduced when spreading and the slurry was far more consistent.”
I wanted the crust to be eaten away. Before, you could have walked over the top of the crust. Also, when I would mix it up, the dirty water would come out ok, but floor solids were left behind.
Simon Dodds from Harbro recommended I use Epizym.
I applied the product as per the instructions. The smell was greatly reduced when spreading and the slurry was far more consistent, leaving much less solid material on the leaves of the grass.
I have saved time and money on pumps. It would take a while and so I used to hire in specialist mixing equipment. I haven’t had to hire this in since using Epizym. I can’t put a price on it yet but I expect to get more grass due to less leaf contamination. I’ll be aiming to inject slurry from now on - the slurry is now more consistent and able to be injected.
Yes, and I have been recommending it to a number of neighbours.
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Chynoweth Farm,
Truro
Dairy farmer - 210 dairy cows |
”I’ve now started to inject the slurry as it’s more liquefied.”
Flies and smell were becoming a nuisance on the farm.
I saw an advertisement and decided to give the product a go in my 18 foot deep pit.
I’ve now started to inject the slurry as it’s more liquefied. I expect a good response from my grassland. I want to get the best fertiliser value I can out of my slurry.
Yes
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Rugley, Staffordshire
Dairy farmers |
Giles Dadd, FACTS-registered advisor, and principal agricultural consultant to Epizym explains one of the farm trials, where a tin tank is used. "Martin Brown manages 140 cows. At the start his tin tank was approximately 25% full with a crust on top."
The store was re-circulated in order to obtain a composite sample of the slurry for analysis. The correct amount of Epizym was applied and eight weeks later the slurry in the tin tank was re-circulated and a further sample taken. At this stage it was noticeable that the slurry was a more consistent liquid mix and the odour was greatly reduced.
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| Ph |
6.6 |
6.9 |
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| Dry Matter |
3.39 |
2.4 |
-29% |
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Kgs/cu.m. |
Kgs/cu.m. |
Kgs/cu.m. |
| Total N |
1.63 |
1.72 |
5% |
| Ammonium N |
0.82 |
1.00 |
21% |
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| P2O5 |
0.49 |
0.56 |
14.28% |
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Thorough analysis of the financial benefits was key to the trial for all involved.
- Reduced agitation time alone brought a saving of £180 per mixing. As agitation takes place up to three times each year, there's a potential total saving of £540.
- The Increased ammonium nitrogen content has a direct comparison of 1,021 kgs for 140 cows, valued at £1,021. However, the liquefaction process also makes more phosphate available in the year of application and this can be measured and thus reduce the fertiliser applied, and this is valued at £453.
- Total value of £2,014 for a cost of £480 per winter. This does, however, ignore the higher potential volume of slurry produced through the liquefaction process, where the bacteria turn some of the dry matter into water through the respiration process. This is difficult to assess accurately, but it's likely to be in the order of 7%, giving an extra £381 worth of ammonia N for the herd.
Brothers Martin and Neil Brown were pleased with the trial results. Martin, with the tin tank, explains."My trial showed an improvement of 21% in ammonium N, which will hopefully deliver good savings on bagged fertiliser. Of the products on the market, Epizym’s slurry additive is worth giving a go".
Neil freely admits he used to treat slurry as a waste product but now sees it as a valuable asset. "You can see the product working, with the bubbles rising to the surface of the lagoon. The smell was vastly reduced and stirring time has been halved, as we're now dispersing only a very thin crust." Neil, who stores slurry in a lagoon, was particularly pleased, as was his contractor. He pumped his slurry one mile by umbilical cord system. The contractor was very impressed as, in his experience, pumping this distance he would normally encounter several blockages.
A third Brown brother, on hearing the results, is now using Epizym's slurry additive to reduce smell, making a more pleasant and inviting atmosphere for customers visiting to his farm shop.
Jeff, the third brother in the family, was not part of the trial but he started to use Epizym following the results on the other farms. Jeff has a lagoon close to his farm shop where, amongst other things, he makes and sells ice cream, therefore, odour is his main concern. After using Epizym, on emptying his lagoon there was very little odour.
Yes, yes and yes.
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Green Farm, Lower Knightley
Dairy farmer - 90 Friesian Holstein |
”My only regret is that I didn’t use it 10 years earlier”
The crust on our 390,000 gallon store was causing us a problem. It was taking a lot of time to break up, about 2-3 days to stir up and make a consistent mix before we could pump it out. We’d tried several mechanical solutions, including a paddle in the bottom of the store itself as well as jetters. The diesel bills were horrendous. But it would dry out quickly – we couldn’t control it. At its worst the crust was eight feet thick – half the depth of the store itself. I knew the next step would have been a Hi Mack high reach digger but we couldn’t face the expense of hiring that and the additional diesel to run it.
My farm worker went on the internet and found Epizym’s website. He gave me the phone number and I got in touch.
Epizym’s FACTS registered advisor Giles Dadd got in touch. He explained the product and how long it would take to work. I ordered some, followed the instructions which I found very simple. Within about a month I could see it was eating away on the rear side of the slurry store. We agitated it then to ensure it had circulated throughout, left it some weeks longer and then emptied half the store after first cut silage. There was a marked difference. Three quarters of the crust had gone in that time
I used to use two tractors and two jetters for the job. As it’s taking no time now to agitate and mix I’m saving at least £300 on diesel a year. I save approximately £31 an acre on bagged fertiliser as I need less of it now the slurry is treated and the organic fertiliser value is boosted by the Epizym. Man hours spent on slurry management are reduced to minimal. It used to take one man three days to mix the slurry to make it consistent and then two to three days to empty the tank. That’s all saved now.
I noticed that when I opened the slurry tanker that I no longer get the top froth like before. This meant that the tank would go out full each time. Again, making the process more time efficient and hassle free.
It’s also positive for the environment that I’m not suing as much diesel.
Yes and I have done to one of my neighbours who’s going to give it a try. Fair enough, we were sceptical at first as to whether this additive could make a difference and solve our slurry problem, but as soon as I saw the effect it was having I was amazed. My only regret is I didn’t start using it 10 years sooner.
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| Saving on diesel |
£300 |
| Saving on bought in fertiliser |
£3,800
(based on 120 acres with cattle) |
| Saving on labour costs |
£200 |
| LESS cost of Epizym |
- £200 |
| TOTAL saving |
£4,100 |
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Manor Farm, Gloucester
Dairy farmer - 140 plus followers |
“It’s rare to find a product that does exactly what it says on the tin (or tub in this case), but Epizym does”
says Perry.
Three years ago, during a conversation with a farm supplies distributor, I complained about the crust on my lagoon and the fact that it was taking a long time to stir. Smell had become an issue as well as I’m right on the outskirts of a village. Some years prior I’d had complaints about smell when I was spreading the slurry onto the land.
The distributor suggested I try a slurry digester, as it would help with both the smell and the crust problems. I thought ‘why not, try it once’, because if it worked, I’d have two problems solved in one go. If it didn’t work, I wouldn’t have wasted much money at it anyway.
I’d emptied the lagoon in the September and put the Epizym into it in November, when it only had a small amount of slurry in it. After what seemed like a short time, maybe a few weeks, I could see a noticeable difference in the crust – it had halved in thickness. When the umbilical contractors came, I didn’t tell them about using the Epizym. However, the difference in the slurry was so apparent, they commented on it as well as on the reduction in smell when spreading.
We now treat our slurry as a valued asset; it’s not a waste product. The Epizym frees up the nitrogen and phosphate improving its value from a fertiliser perspective. We use it after the 1st cut silage instead of bagged fertiliser - saving us buying three or four tons.
Other savings are hard to work out. For example, I’ve definitely saved on time and diesel. Another thing I’m keen to save myself from is hassle, and this has definitely happened since using Epizym.
Fertiliser saving
Less cost of Epizym |
£1,680
- £280 |
| TOTAL saving |
£1,480 |
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It’s rare to find a product that does exactly what it says on the tin (or tub in this case) but Epizym does. For the reduction in hassle on the farm it is money well spent.
I would and have. I mentioned it to my neighbour. He tried it and now uses it regularly. The key is having an open mind and giving it a try. It’s well worth the money and has greatly eased slurry management and saved me money on my farm.
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Thornton Hey Farm, Cheshire
Dairy farmer - 60 milkers, 30 young stock |
“I can’t imagine farming without it now. The amount of hassle it takes out of slurry management is nothing short of amazing,”says John.
“I had a problem. In 1997 I changed the bedding from sawdust to chopped straw to benefit the cows. I have a 50,000 gallon lagoon and a 160,000 gallon slurry tank, both of which are emptied every four months. We were having big problems with blockages when emptying the tank as the straw was forming a thick crust that wasn’t breaking down. Both systems would need to be stirred before emptying which was an expensive, time consuming task that usually took several days. We often found there wasn’t enough time to do it thoroughly, so the slurry varied in consistency and the nutrients didn’t get applied evenly. Thicker slurry stuck to the leaves and contaminated them, forcing us to wait longer before we could graze the land. This was a real problem as we were totally dependent on grass.
I saw an advert for Epizym in Dairy Farmer and gave it a try from the autumn of that year.”
“Treatment was easy. I simply mixed the Epizym with warm water and poured it into the reception pit before it was pumped into the tank, ensuring the bacteria were introduced into the liquid fraction of the slurry and not wasted on the surface.
The treated slurry is so much easier to handle. There is very little crust and the slurry has a more even consistency, even before mixing. This has greatly reduced the time and energy spent stirring the stores before spreading (it only takes me an hour to an hour and a half now), reducing hassle and allowing us to take advantage of weather windows for spreading. When I put the thinner slurry on the land I saw that the grass was growing noticeably quicker almost straight away. So much so, that by the springtime, I was able to drastically reduce the amount of fertiliser I put onto the land, buying only a couple of bags as an ‘insurance policy’ almost.”
"I’ve now been using Epizym Cattle for eight winters with good success. The product is unquestionably effective as a slurry digester provided it is always applied correctly. This I am able to apply to either mowing or grazing land without problems and with little odour throughout the growing season.
Obviously fertiliser saving is the key area, and the fact that I have lower contractor costs is a substantial saving. Also, with greatly reduced mixing time, diesel savings come into the picture.
John’s annual saving on a relatively small non intensive farm
Fertiliser saving
Contractor saving
Diesel saving
Less cost of Epizym |
£8,625
£300
£200
- £250 |
| TOTAL saving |
£8,875 |
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Priceless
I’ve noticed Epizym treated slurry doesn’t stick to leaves so contamination risk is reduced on silage grounds and we can get the cows back to grazing sooner.
The benefits I have enjoyed since first using Epizym Cattle back in 1997 are certainly worth having, and I would most certainly recommend the product to other dairy or cattle farmers. But to achieve these benefits I would stress it is important to always adhere to Epizym's easy-to-follow instructions and apply the product correctly."
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Crossgates Farm, Skipton, North Yorkshire
Dairy farmer |
“Using Epizym meant I got to see the bottom of my tank for the first time ever” says Thomas.
“I found one year I had particularly stiff slurry. Epizym was recommended to me by a distributor.”
“I followed the instructions, mixed the Epizym with warm water in the right quantities and put it into the liquid fraction when the tank was almost empty (about 10% slurry left in it) at the start of winter housing time. Within about six weeks it had done the job.
Once I slipped on using it and the slurry thickened. When the umbilical men came it took much longer for them to pump it.”
“Yes. I would.”
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Vale Farm, Shrewsbury
Dairy farmer, herd of 140
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“Using Epizym saves me money in more ways than one” says Richard.
“Giles Dadd, Agricultural Consultant to Epizym, contacted me to see if I’d be interested in trialling Epizym on my farm. As I had a crust on my slurry I thought I would try it and I’ve used it ever since. I produce milk for cheese and so I was also interested in anything that could improve the quality of the milk. I was interested in the promise that Epizym would reduce odour.”
"Giles came to the farm and applied the Epizym in the right quantities. After about six weeks, the crust had reduced by at least 50%.
It has definitely saved me money. I save 30 units of bagged fertiliser per acre on the first cut alone. I have saved on contractor costs but do much of the mixing myself and Epizym has drastically reduced the amount of time this takes me so I can do other things. The reduction in smell is another good benefit. I’ve moved to a more rural area now but I used to have a farm with neighbours. They were happy once I started to use the Epizym, as is my wife to this day."
Richard’s annual saving
Fertiliser saving (on first cut only)
Less cost of Epizym |
£978
- £300
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| TOTAL |
£678 |
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“When my slurry isn’t treated with Epizym I can see that it’s inconsistent on the land - lumps and fibre being visible"
“Yes. I wouldn’t go back to not using it.”
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Appleby, Cumbria
Dairy Farmer
read on ››
Hilltop Farm, Leyburn
Dairy Farmer
read on ››
Wigtown, Newton Stewart
Dairy Farmer
read on ››
Low Thoresby, Redmire
Dairy Farmer
read on ››
Penkiln Farm, Garlieston, Newton Stewart
Dairy Farmer
read on ››
Chynoweth Farm,
Truro
Dairy farmer - 210 dairy cows
read on ››
Rugley, Staffordshire
Dairy farmers
read on ››
Green Farm, Lower Knightley
Dairy farmer - 90 Fresian Holstein
read on ››
Manor Farm, Gloucester
Dairy farmer - 140 plus followers
read on ››
Thornton Hey Farm, Cheshire
Dairy farmer - 60 milkers, 30 young stock
read on ››
Crossgates Farm, Skipton, North Yorkshire
Dairy farmer
Vale Farm, Shrewsbury
Dairy farmer, herd of 140
read on ››
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