Slurry as a Problem or an Opportunity for Growth

 

 Slurry as a problem? or an opportunity for growth?

First, a little about the development of slurry in agriculture, "The Old Four-Winged Farm" was designed as protection against thieves and robbers."

In the middle of the farmyard, the manure heap was placed on cobblestones. At that time, the farmer's belief was that manure was "the farm's gold"; the manure pile had to be tended and cared for. Animal urine was collected and showered over the manure pile.

Straw bedding and topsoil were used as an absorbent so that nothing seeped out and was wasted.

The manure was arranged in "banks" so that the last of it had an adequate storage time before being spread on the fields, all of which was labor-intensive and time-consuming; the methods had been passed down through generations as peasant wisdom.

Modern pump technology offered the opportunity to avoid the cumbersome handling of animal manure.

The manure was mechanized and subsequently became waste; odor and flies turned into an environmental issue. Artificial fertilizer was invented, "bag manure" didn't smell. Much easier to handle, saving a lot of trouble.

Slurry became Stinking waste!

Those who introduced slurry in Denmark, the technologists, had no idea what practical farmers in Southern Europe brought with them in terms of knowledge and methods from the "Old Manure Heap" in the farmyard to the slurry tank when pump technology was introduced.

They added herbs, medicinal plants, leafy hay (now rediscovered by "Bonderøven"), dried nettles (Urtica Dioica), which, for example, mediate iron and sulfur compounds. The sulfur from the nettle is referred to as Medicinal Sulfur - Sulphur Medicinale, the purest form of sulfur used for medicinal purposes.

Fields fertilized with such composted slurry do not suffer from sulfur deficiency. The sulfur compounds arising from this process are important for the formation of protein and hemoglobin-like substances in the nodule bacteria of legumes.

Chamomile provides available calcium in the soil's substance transformation processes; each plant species has beneficial properties, which would be too extensive to describe here, hence a few examples on the topic.

Large-scale farming quickly removed the "Old Peasant Wisdom"; the new was easier, but was it better?

In Denmark, slurry became "gylle", and what's the difference then!

Danish slurry tanks were built with a storage capacity for manure for 3-4 months. At that time, the retention time was short enough that the slurry did not rot in the same way as we see today with 12 months of mandatory storage; the ratio of anaerobic bacteria (without oxygen) did not manage to destroy all aerobic bacteria (with oxygen). Straw and feed residues could just manage the "bacterial balance," but the formation of hydrogen sulfide, which when spread on the field combined with airborne moisture and fell as sulfuric acid, killed earthworms and destroyed soil structure, leading to favorable conditions for pioneer plants perceived as weeds.

When fungal diseases subsequently attack the plants, crops are sprayed with fungicides, which unfortunately remove the fungal species in living soil that fix nitrogen from the air to the root systems of cultivated plants.

 

The problem with Rotting Slurry and Biogas Sludge?

When stored for 10-12 months, the slurry ferments completely incorrectly, so the soil's microlife loses its balance, the iron compounds in the topsoil are leached out and seep with precipitation below the "plow furrow" and are now called Tractosis.

Clostridium Botulism bacteria, "Sausage poisoning" thrives in this environment. Scientific literature describes that Clostridium-Botulism bacteria are inactive after exposure to sunlight for 3-4 hours?

According to this knowledge, nature should regulate the problem itself – this does not happen in the real world.

There is therefore a practical difference between Reality and Science.

Science is always right because it can be reproduced. Reality is diverse.

Oops, research therefore leads to unsustainable conditions for the agricultural sector.

Technical science wants to build biogas plants so that farmers can get greater yields. But of what?

 Clostridium Botulism and destroyed soil structure. This leads to uncontrollable livestock diseases with risk of infection for humans.

Biogas sludge is anaerobically fermented (without oxygen), multiplying Clostridium Botulism. Foreign documentation states that heating biogas sludge to 70 degrees Celsius minimizes Clostridium Botulism by 95% "Bravo" - just remember that the remaining 5% double their numbers every 20 minutes.

 

Changing the slurry through composting

minimizes the proliferation of salmonella and clostridia when aerobic bacteria and photosynthetic bacteria become active in the slurry.

Biogas sludge and slurry should be "revitalized" before spreading, with Microbubbles created by BioReco's implosion technology from LJM Maskinfabrik, Højmark.

 

Soil Structure.

Around Berlin in Germany, the formation of blue clay has been observed directly beneath the topsoil, where previously there was yellow clay that plant roots could penetrate. Blue clay remains without oxygen (anaerobic); plant roots cannot penetrate this layer of clay, resulting in stressed plants. All of this is caused by Rotten Slurry, Sewage Sludge, and Biogas Sludge.

Professor Dr. Monika Krüger, University of Leipzig, is aware of 10,000 cattle herds affected by Clostridium Botulism in Germany. The source of this contamination comes from Rotten Slurry, Biogas Sludge, and Sewage Sludge. The imbalance in these soils has led to mass deaths in cattle herds in Germany.

See the broadcasts : clostridium botulism.

http://www.daserste.de/information/wissen-kultur/w-wie-wissen/sendung/2012/botulismus-110.html

 

Lost yield in Crop Production

An organic farmer lost 150 ha. gherkins, attacked by the fungus Peronospera. Another conventional farm lost 200 ha. gherkins to the same fungus; the fields in old East Germany had been fertilized with sludge and rotten slurry.

In Denmark, waterlogged areas are experienced that are well-drained but rainwater cannot penetrate from the surface to field drains? The soil's capillary action has broken down, the earthworm species Lumbricus Terrestris has long since become extinct in mistreated fields. This earthworm, which can grow up to 30 cm long, vertically bores wormholes to a depth of 4-6 meters / 4-6000 millimeters. Before the eradication of these worms, there was plenty of space for precipitation in the soil. Plant roots follow the earthworms deep down, compost after harvest and absorb plant nutrients for reuse in the next growing season. Buffer zones are therefore superfluous when changing slurry and fertilization methods.

Experiences from the Veterinary Clinic Burg, in Ditmarschen.

80% of all cattle are affected by the disease; my work as an advisor in slurry treatment in Ditmarschen has led me to many farms affected by the Cattle Disaster, and all farms have problems with soil structure.

 Corn harvesters cannot operate on the ground due to precipitation. Newly drained and flushed drainage pipes are empty of water, no connection between drains and the surface; therefore, Tractosis is merely a poor cover name for improper handling of animal manure and "plant protection."

Pioneer plants or weeds?

The weed flora in the affected fields should be designated as "pioneer" plants; they indicate imbalance in the deeper soil layers. Example: Couch grass and Thistles tell us that the soil's carbon-humus compounds are not optimal. Pioneer plants try to restore the soil's previously good soil structure, as well as the plants' absorption of minerals; what's interesting is that thistles contain selenium, an important element in animal feed.

Couch grass and thistles can only grow where their root system meets resistance; they do not grow in loose, porous soil.

pH test during the growing season can show whether plant roots can absorb micronutrients and antioxidants through their "ultrashort root hairs," if the crops are not stressed by malnutrition and fungal diseases. Snail attacks belong to the same problem.

When the natural fertility of the soil is restored and the drainage pipes are working, it is the farmer who delivers the antioxidants, through milk, meat, grain, and vegetables to the consumer, not the health food store or the pharmacist.

The slurry's content of Essential Amino Acids – Those that sustain Life.

The fresh manure and urine from livestock contain active residues of the "12 vital" amino acids; this content must not rot. Instead, it should be activated through fermentation processes that multiply their properties, which is done by avoiding anaerobic conditions in the slurry.

Microorganisms and Plant Carbon:

Slurry must never be allowed to rot! In modern cattle stables with slurry systems, the slurry should be slowly circulated in the channels, for example, with an LJM Channel Agitator, www.ljm.dk  and inoculated daily with BiosaHerb "Effective Microorganisms," which initiate the substance transformation of nutrients.

Sourdough Principle.

When baking bread, a little yeast is saved for the next baking! The same function applies to the Slurry Channels.

Recirculated slurry inoculated with microorganisms converts ammonia, which is a volatile gas, into ammonium and bacterial protein. Mosquito and fly larvae are composted, and the pH is lowered in the process to 6-6.45 without adding the sulfuric acid, which is harmful to the soil and has now become fashionable. When using chopped straw, plant charcoal can be omitted; a few kilos per m3 of slurry are enough.

The purpose of charcoal/straw is to provide the slurry with a medium with a large oxygen-binding surface, thereby preventing putrefaction.

The substance transformation achieved is Bacterial Protein.    "Gotterspeise," -  God's food for the Earth's microorganisms.

It is the Earth's Micro-life that needs to be fertilized – Not the Plants!

The slurry tank has thereby become a "Money Tank," just as the old, well-kept manure pile was for farmers in the old days.

Slurry is Money – and Money Doesn't Stink!

 

November 2012

Knud Dencker-Jensen