Vogelsang Blog

Robert Payne invested in a Vogelsang dribble bar, five years ago, to better manage slurry application on his Nutrient Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) classified farm. The move has brought greater flexibility and control of forage management, but, in one of the driest years on record, he has struggled to utilise slurry and cut enough grass to feed his dairy herd.

When the on-farm AD plant was built at WH Corbett Farms in 2016, it was designed with a Vogelsang feed system.

The Brocklesby AD plant is fed with 92,000 tonnes food soup from the adjacent edible oil recovery plant, Brocklesby Oil, as well as blood and glycerol from nearby food manufacturers.

The owners of Ystym Colwyn Farms wanted to create a low carbon farming system that was good for both the business and the plant. The family-run farm consists of cattle, sheep and poultry, with 325,000 birds across six sheds. 

Slurry and digestate specialists, Wrights Agricultural Contractors has invested in a Vervaet Hydro Trike XL self-propelled machine with an 18-metre Vogelsang Compax dribble bar to apply 50,000 cubic metres of slurry and digestate a year. Operator, Dan Marsden, suggests it is the perfect combination for working in maize and cereal crops. 

Bringing slurry management back to the farm and investing in two Vogelsang BackPac application systems has provided significant savings and whole system benefits to a Welsh dairy farm.

Installing a separator over a decade ago has helped the Singleton family to improve cow health, reduce bedding costs and make better use of slurry on their grassland. The more recent installation of a Vogelsang XSplit separator has seen separation become key to growing the dairy unit whilst carefully managing costs. 

Situation

Brocklesby edible oil recovery plant in North Cave, East Riding, Yorkshire, processes approximately 52,000 tonnes of waste oil each year. Used oil and waste food comes from restaurants, retailers and food manufacturers from all over the UK to the site, where the waste oil is extracted and used as aviation and road fuel.

Ten years after buying his Vogelsang BackPac, contractor Paul Nixon is still using it to full effect to service farms in the Scottish borders. His innovative techniques for applying slurry umbilically sees RSN Contracting operate in a 40-mile radius from its base near Selkirk.

Creeping energy bills are having an enormous effect on businesses, and tank storage sites are no exception. As energy costs increase, operators could benefit from reassessing how their pumps are running, and a few small changes could make a big difference.