Anyone use Actiglene slurry enhancer?

locky76

There was an ad on the back of last weeks journal for Actiglene a slurry enhancer.
I rang the salesman last week who gave me the usual spiff, basically it does the following by introducing micro-bacteria into the slurry:

• Locks in nitrogen
• Keeps the slurry more watery thus making agitating easier
• Reduces the release of poisonous gases by up to 80%

It's €20 for a 25kgs bag which you scatter on the slats once a week and let the cattle wash it in. A 25kg bag will do 50 cows, studies say that it has a 150% payback, i.e. if you spend €400 on it you will accrue benefits of €1,000.
I'm tempted to give it a go, see links below:
http://www.grasslandagro.ie/slurry-enhancer/
http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/slurry-enhancer-increases-mineral-nitrogen-and-boosts-forage-yield-244785.html

Milked out

Might get a bag to see if it will help shift a bit of stubborn stuff under the slats in a reception tank, other than that we have an aeration system that works well enough to keep slurry agitated once a bit of water was in the bottom of the tank to begin with

Livestockmad

Milked out wrote: »

Might get a bag to see if it will help shift a bit of stubborn stuff under the slats in a reception tank, other than that we have an aeration system that works well enough to keep slurry agitated once a bit of water was in the bottom of the tank to begin with

Did u put in aeration when building the tank or after a couple of years. How do u find it? How is yours run?

Livestockmad

Milked out wrote: »

Might get a bag to see if it will help shift a bit of stubborn stuff under the slats in a reception tank, other than that we have an aeration system that works well enough to keep slurry agitated once a bit of water was in the bottom of the tank to begin with

Did u put in aeration when building the tank or after a couple. How do u find it? How is yours run?

Milked out

Livestockmad wrote: »

Did u put in aeration when building the tank or after a couple. How do u find it? How is yours run?

Both actually, we put up a new overground tank as well as a new slatted tank in front of the hay shed we converted to cubicles, and while we were at it we emptied the slats under the bulling heifers shed and put it in there as well and into the existing reception tanks in front of existing cubicles these reception tanks feed a large outdoor underground concrete tank. It works well once there is a tanker of water added starting off, as the new tanks had rain water in them by the time slurry was going in and they were fine whereas the old tank didn't and the slurry from the dry stock was too thick, so we a had to add water and agitate that tank to get it going right. It was pointless putting it in the reception tanks as they weren't deep enough, should have put it in the big concrete tank instead, altho I was just back from being in college for 5 years so unless the father thought they would have solved an issue with regard to the flow to the big tank I don't know, don't remember having any less issues before as with after. Anyways the compressor goes 3 times a day, twice on night rate and once during the day on a timer, maybe it could do without the daytime run but I figure with cattle inside its no harm to put it going as it would reduce gas build up and keep it liquefied as I'd transfer slurry fro the slatted tanks to the others regularly enough. The pipes were tied to the floor with a tee off every couple of feet with each tee having its own pipe and the air is blown to each tee for a set period and then moves on to the next one if you get me. The only problem is if it stops working you may need to agitate to break up any solids so it needs to keep going once there is slurry in the tank. Handy in spring when you can spread whenever you want really

Livestockmad

What sort of money is it per bay? I find it a pain letting out cattle to agitate then weather might break and not spread and in a week id need to agitate again. If u get me. And cattle could get a chill

Livestockmad

What sort of money is it per bay? I find it a pain letting out cattle to agitate then weather might break and not spread and in a week id need to agitate again. If u get me. And cattle could get a chill

bob charles

locky76 wrote: »

It's €20 for a 25kgs bag which you scatter on the slats once a week and let the cattle wash it in. A 25kg bag will do 50 cows, studies say that it has a 150% payback, i.e. if you spend €400 on it you will accrue benefits of €1,000.

its €20 a bag @ 25 kilos that will do 50 cows for a week if im not mistaken. I was talking to local rep about it to try and reduce spreading smell, a yearly price of €2500 was mentioned for x,y,z, - told him I would come back to him about that

Milked out

Livestockmad wrote: »

What sort of money is it per bay? I find it a pain letting out cattle to agitate then weather might break and not spread and in a week id need to agitate again. If u get me. And cattle could get a chill

To be honest I don't know was done back at the time of grants and I wasn't as involved here as I am now so the best bet is to ring one of them and find out, Milburry did ours but dunno if they're still going. Only issue with them was the control box they mounted on the wall wasn't weather proof so had to cover it ourselves, I saw another unit in passing a year or two ago and it looked to be a better unit, can't remember the make tho

keep going

That was the ad that made me start the "are you a buyer "thread

Wooly Admirer

I think it'll be a while before I pay someone €20 per 25kg bag of mysterious powder to dump into the slurry tank. If I have bother agitating, I'll add water - there's plenty of it around the place!!

Spread the slurry in the right conditions to maximise its impact. What a cod!!!

Brown Podzol

locky76 wrote: »

There was an ad on the back of last weeks journal for Actiglene a slurry enhancer.
I rang the salesman last week who gave me the usual spiff, basically it does the following by introducing micro-bacteria into the slurry:

• Locks in nitrogen
• Keeps the slurry more watery thus making agitating easier
• Reduces the release of poisonous gases by up to 80%

It's €20 for a 25kgs bag which you scatter on the slats once a week and let the cattle wash it in. A 25kg bag will do 50 cows, studies say that it has a 150% payback, i.e. if you spend €400 on it you will accrue benefits of €1,000.
I'm tempted to give it a go, see links below:
http://www.grasslandagro.ie/slurry-enhancer/
http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/slurry-enhancer-increases-mineral-nitrogen-and-boosts-forage-yield-244785.html

Snake oil I'd say. These products are not new. Years ago ICI,I think,had something similar. Didn't work then, reason given was that there was not enough sugar left in the slurry to support them.

Thekeencyclist

Anyone try this with positive results?