How to start your process

nutri- bio’s professionally qualified advisers work with you to ensure that the maximum benefit is made from biosolids. They do this by assessing your need for the product, how best to integrate it into your rotation and go through how to minimise the impact of spreading come harvest. These advisors will become your primary point of contact at nutri bio and should be able to provide answers to all of your questions.

FARMER BENFITS

choice of product
location of stockpiles
prevailing wind direction
proximity to housing
incorporation into the soil within 24 hours
The location of water courses, land drains, borehole and aquifers
Power lines
Site access; we deliver in 8 wheel bulkers
SSSI’s and footpaths

What is required to process your order?

During your visit from our products advisor they will need to get a number of bits of information from you to speed up the order process, it might be wise to have them ready to hand;

Your NVZ farm risk map, failing that a map of your farm showing your fields. (if you don’t have a map don’t worry, tell your products advisor and they will bring a couple of scribble maps of the area)
Your cropping and anticipated cropping for the fields you want to do, if its compost we may need more than two years…
An idea of where you want to stockpile and maybe an alternative in case we cant reach it
If its for a long term contract then we will need more than one years stockpiling sites!

We then take this information and undertake a number of checks to protect your compliance, this included filling out all the necessary permits with the EA. This can take up to 10 days!

Soil Sampling

Before an application onto agricultural land can take place there is a legal requirement for comprehensive soil analysis to take place. This determines the natural soil nutrient level. We take three samples

1) An LD sample; this is a PTE’s sample and takes a base level of your soils metals content, although all of our products are very low in metals adding less than 0.5% to your soils its still a legal requirement for your to have! This is taken every 20 years.
1) An SN sample; this is the same as your stand nutrient sample although unlike commercial sampling we only take one sample per 5 ha, this is to get a base line for the field. We would though be more than happy to use your accredited samples and offer a discount to do so! This is taken every 5 years.
1) An OA sample; this is a new sample designed as a soil MOT to ensure that the background levels established in the LD samples are progressing as planned. This is taken once around 10 years after the LD.

Soil Analysis; What we look forg

We process these samples through our own accredited laboratory. They are dried, ground, and then put through the following tests;

Mass spectrometry of the soil
pH test
Soil Density test
Phosphorus extraction test

These look at all the nutrients that are required for your crops to grow health and yield well. The tests typically take 10 to 14 days depending on the weather and how wet the soil is!

Risk Assessing and setting up each site

While the samples are being processed our products advisor will come out with one of our coordinators (they look after our drivers and their health and safety). The pair will assess the site for the following hazards;

The suitability of the sites access
The equipment’s needed to access the site to minimise soil compaction and the damage to the standing crop
The compliance risks of stockpiling on your land i.e. water courses/ land drains/ footpaths and field boundaries and how we can protect your land

The delivery process

We use low compaction equipment to deliver to your farm, as we deliver 365 days of the year we need to be able to access your sites at any point, this is something your products advisor will have gone through with you at the time of your order. To prevent damage we use;

360 excavators with round nose buckets to stockpile in the field throughout the year
Tufftrak mats; designed to reduce the psi of our lorries by 600%
Volvo lorries with large tread tires designed to work on lose surfaces

Your products advisor will always give your advanced warming of our intended delivery and site setup. If you have any queries during deliveries then your products advisor with the support of the Stakeholder Communications Manager will be able to help.

How the spreading works

'nutri-bio' on average spreads about 380,000 t of biosolids across the region 90% of this happens in the brief window at harvest. We aim to be with you as soon as possible during this time and with this in mind we have just upgraded our spreaders to the new Vredo v4556’s. These machines are specified to the highest level out in the market with;

Upto 24m application widths
Weight celled
Trimble guidance system and auto steer
Auto inflate and deflate tyre systems
Large 1050/ 50R 32 low ground pressure tires

We can only do so much so we ask for your help when it comes to organising spreading. Typically we spread most of our product behind OSR or First Wheat’s. If we are spreading for you then please could you provide us with as much notice as possible i.e. the day before you desiccate your OSR. If its wheat then when you think you are 10 days away. Your products advisor can then pencil you in to the schedules or arrange emergency cover if it looks like we are going to struggle to meet your timeframes.

How we keep you compliant

At the end of this we ensure your compliance by providing you with a fully completed NMP for the biosolids applied. This takes the hassle out of you having to do this with RB209 (and getting the right nutrient management information). If you wanted anymore help with your fields NMP or even your farm NMax then our FACTS qualified advisors are more than happy to lend a hand as part of the service.