OMG, "it don't 'arf pen and ink"

[niall Y]

I was in the workshop yesterday, cutting out for a whole load of 'biscuits' in some ply, After I finished, I took off my mask, and went outside to avoid the dust and breath in some nice, fresh, country air. Well, that didn't work out too well! What greeted my nostrils was the overwhelming stench of the slurry that the local farmer was spraying on his field. For those not used to it - and I am - I can only say that it is so strong , that you can taste it.

In all fairness, they do try and limit application to cloudy ,or rainy days, but when it has been put on the fields, you know about it, immediately. You can't keep it out of the house either, My wife has to bring the washing in, and eating a tasty meal can be a bit of a challenge. And then, something miraculous happens. - you don't really notice it anymore.

My son tells me that his colleague at work - who volunteers at a local Rugby Club - tells him that the young lads, who have been spraying it on the field, still smell of it when they come in for practise, despite having had a shower and change of clothes.

 

[Fitzroy]

I've not lived in proper farming country for 30 years but I can still smell the smell in my mind's eye.

 

[niall Y]

I've not lived in proper farming country for 30 years but I can still smell the smell in my mind's eye.

Yes, once encountered, never forgotten.

 

[Bod]

yup, the odour of the countryside, new mown hay in summer, slurry in the autum.
Used to be straw smoke late summer, but that got banned.

Bod.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

When I had my workshop in Ashleworth I was in the stables of a Manor House and had to cross the road to use the loo at the house. I was on my way over to use the loo one day when a tanker full of pig slurry from the farm down the road came by, I waited for it to pass and as it bounced by me I got showered in the stuff, it was a fine mist of pig poo that landed mostly on my head but all over me as well. Needless to say I had to drive home and have a shower and a change of clothes! Isn't country living great!

 

[Lorenzl]

Around here they use slurry from the sewage works and that really stinks. The farmers are supposed to plough it in within a certain time but if they do it still stinks for days.

A local village had a pig farm and they used to put slurry on the fields for years. A housing estate was built and there were complaints about it from the new residents. The farmer tried adding a scent to try and cover up the smell which didn't work. In the end he got rid of most of the pigs and then closed altogether.

 

[Tris]

Many years back I bought a cheap pickup from a dairy farmer, three years later it'd still stink on a warm day

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A local village had a pig farm and they used to put slurry on the fields for years. A housing estate was built and there were complaints about it from the new residents. The farmer tried adding a scent to try and cover up the smell which didn't work. In the end he got rid of most of the pigs and then closed altogether.

There are apparently pig farms that produce the same amount of effluent as small cities.

 

[rocketman_k]

Some years ago my brother set up a new pig farm on the edge of his village. In conversation with the owner of an adjoining house he was asked “a pig farm! What about the smell?”........ brother’s response “ oh don’t worry about that, the pigs will soon get used to it”...........

 

[eezageeza]

We have a large pig unit near here, and used to be plagued by the stench when it was slurry spreading time. As it happened, we had a delivery driver from Holland arrive one day when this was happening, and he was shocked that it was allowed, because in Holland the farmers are required by law to inject the slurry under the soil surface, to hide the smell.

A year or two later, and our neighbouring farmer updated his slurry tanker to an injection unit, and now we hardly notice the smell at all! Mind you, the tanker still stinks as it drives past!

 

[niall Y]

We have a large pig unit near here, and used to be plagued by the stench when it was slurry spreading time. As it happened, we had a delivery driver from Holland arrive one day when this was happening, and he was shocked that it was allowed, because in Holland the farmers are required by law to inject the slurry under the soil surface, to hide the smell.

A year or two later, and our neighbouring farmer updated his slurry tanker to an injection unit, and now we hardly notice the smell at all! Mind you, the tanker still stinks as it drives past!

If it hadn't been for Brexit, we would have had to comply with this ruling. There is still a chance that the Welsh Assembly, will require that farmers adopt these methods, but for the time being I believe they have decided not to pass legislation. I presume this will give farmers a breathing space ( pun intended ) to gear up for the inevitable.

 

[Limey Lurker]

We live on the edge of a large area of arable fields, and so have the smell of slurry every Autumn. A number of years ago, our local Council decided to compost the seaweed that was removed from the beaches during the Summer, and allow the local farmers to use it as fertilizer the following year. If you ever smell composted seaweed, you will be glad to submerge yourself in slurry to freshen up.

 

[seanf]

A local village had a pig farm and they used to put slurry on the fields for years. A housing estate was built and there were complaints about it from the new residents

Reminds me of:

Sean

 

[Phil Pascoe]

That looks like NZ with the possum guard on the tree.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

A local village had a pig farm and they used to put slurry on the fields for years. A housing estate was built and there were complaints about it from the new residents. The farmer tried adding a scent to try and cover up the smell which didn't work. In the end he got rid of most of the pigs and then closed altogether.

There was some years ago a housing estate built on the edge of an existing industrial estate. It was built despite objections at the planning stage because of the nature of the industries on the estate - they were noisy. Of course the first people to move in complained about the noise, and the owner of the factory they were mostly objecting to got so fed up with battling officialdom he closed it down, making 100+ people with good jobs unemployed.