Innovations

Manure Spreader Works For Miles

Written by Mark Saunders & published in The Weekly Times March 25, 2010

THE Miles family at Kotupna has an efficient and sustainable way to take care of about 6000 cubic metres of straw and manure each year.

The straw and manure, a by-product of the family's 1000-sow piggery and 400-head capacity cattle feedlot, is re-used on the property by being broadcast as compost over paddocks and worked into the soil.

It's a practice they have been using successfully for years, but just recently the job of spreading the compost was made much easier with the purchase of a Jeantil manure spreader.

The purchase of the Jeantil EVR 15-12 spreader came after many months of investigation.

David Miles said he and wife, Sally, chose the Jeantil for its robust build quality, low centre of gravity and ability to be easily controlled from the tractor cabin.
"The Jeantil spreader fits in very well with our farming set-up," David said.

"We have not used synthetic fertiliser in many paddocks for years and we have no problems growing plenty of feed for the pigs and cattle thanks to spreading the compost over the ground.

"It's not uncommon for us to grow cereal forage crops that yield 12 tonnes of dry matter to the hectare and we also get a fantastic crop of maize each year, thanks to the fertile ground."

David said the walls of the Jeantil spreader were just 2.4m tall, which made it easy to load.

"It takes very little time to load the spreader and, when it's in the paddock, you can easily manipulate the spreading rate by adjusting the speed of the floor," he said.

"That pushes the material to the rear of the machine and its two large, vertical beaters.

"It does a great job of chopping the compost up into fine pieces, which help it break down faster in the soil."

David said they spread compost at a rate of about 50-75 cubic metres/ha.

"We have used a contractor in the past but with the Jeantil we now have the flexibility to spread the material when it is timely to do so," David said.

"It makes a big difference to be able to get the manure on to the paddocks when we want, quickly and efficiently."

David and Sally bought the Jeantil through importer and distributor FarmTech Machinery at Wodonga.

FarmTech's Brad Modra said the Jeantil range was ideal for broadcasting a variety of manures.

"The Jeantil range is robust and the spreaders provide a cost effective method of broadcasting many non-synthetic fertilisers," Brad said.