Cost benefits of roofing slurry midden

Apr 19 2008 The Journal

SIMPLY roofing over a midden on a Lake District hill farm has made all-round benefits to the environment and in savings on labour and other costs.

Mick and Christine Booth run a mostly home-bred 35-cow Limousin cross suckler herd and 750 ewes with followers at Hartrigg Farm in the Kentmere valley north of Kendal.

The beautiful valley, which is in the Lake District National Park, is a magnet for hill walkers.

Farming at 1,000ft with grazing rights on Kentmere common at up to 2,600ft, the farm has a rainfall of up to 100 inches a year and the Booths largely run the farm single-handedly with occasional help for gathering and from their son Tony.

Thanks to a grant from Farming Connect Cumbria, the Booths were able to roof the slurry midden – probably trebling its capacity by excluding the rainwater and making repairs to prevent possible run-off to a nearby beck.

The midden can now provide up to 10 weeks’ storage for the slurry.

“It has cut down the number of times we had to empty the midden and now we can make the most use of the manure and spread it when we want, which has helped our fertiliser bills, labour time and the use of machinery,” said Mick.

“It also means we can avoid spreading when it is wet to meet our cross- compliance requirements.

“The midden was leaking and we knew we had to do something about it. It was fortunate we got the grant.

“We probably would have had to consider not keeping the cows but the cattle are important to manage the landscape and to work within the constraints of the Lake District ESA scheme.”

The Booths moved from Austwick, near Settle, where they farmed 150 acres, eight years ago to take on the tenancy of the Kentmere farm.

The holding was already in the ESA and since then they have renewed the agreement for a further term and now it has five years left to run.

They took on the hefted flock of Swaledales which are all bred pure and they also run Cheviots.

The Limousin cross cows are put to the Blonde bull with all calves being sold at around 10 months old at Kendal auction market.

The grant has also enabled the Booths to manage their existing cattle numbers more effectively.

The cows and calves are housed from October to May in the cubicle house and the passageway is scraped out each day – keeping the cost of straw to a minimum.

Because of the ESA agreement, cattle can not be outwintered.

The midden, constructed of block walls and a concrete floor, was repaired and sealed by local agricultural buildings specialist Ian Pickthall who also constructed the roof. The Booths’ landlord contributed to cost.

“The Environment Agency was very supportive and helped us and they think the improvements are first rate,” said Mick.