On the right, farmer Lukas Kolsch, who oversees the removal of almost 50,000 tonnes of manure every year from the large dairy herd near Tinglev – Martin Damsteegt on the left.
When you place yourself with 1,000 dairy cows in the countryside, it is important to have the acceptance of the surroundings. Farmer Lukas Kolsch at milk producer Martijn Damsteegt near Tinglev likes to wash the manure wagon an extra time.
It is not only because the tractor and slurry tanker must look good that milk producer Martijn Damsteegt near Tinglev washes his new Samson PG II 28 frequently and replaces it every three years.
- But it is part of the strategy, admits both Martijn Damsteegt and the 800-cow farm's farmer, Lukas Kolsch, who manages the production of forage for the large milk production at Hedsgaard and Mindegaarden near Tinglev respectively.
- We emphasize that the machines look good and try to keep the manure wagon reasonably clean when there is time for it.
Although agriculture enjoys great recognition in the local area, image and reputation are an important element to ensure that local people speak well of agriculture.
Martijn Damsteegt is pleased that a couple of the family's four children received praise on TV Syd and in Børneavisen for collecting discarded beer cans on the field edges and thereby getting involved in the daily life of local agriculture.
A good reputation in the local community is important. It was a success when two of Martijn Damsteegt's own children got their friends to help collect wasted beer cans from the fields. They appeared both on TV Syd and – as here – in Børneavisen for the initiative.
Meanwhile, field man Lukas Kolsch sends a loving thought to the SAMSON constructors.
- It is a very simple and robust design, and there is good control that the hoses out to the precipitator tine are emptied, so that there is virtually no manure waste on the roads when we drive back and forth between the field and the manure tank, says Lukas Kolsch about the work with the nearly 50,000 tonnes of manure in the immediate area.
Small but important details ensure against manure spillage on public roads. Lukas Kolsch shows here the closing mechanism on the SAMSON TD 12 grassland trap, which makes it almost drip-free during transport.
- I bother with the pump crane, but just when I have finished and have to swing it into place, it is almost impossible to avoid a little slurry dripping onto the tank. It is immediately visible and makes it difficult to keep the cart fairly clean during work, he says and regrets that he does not have a smart solution for this either.
Since Martijn Damsteegt and family chose to move from the Netherlands to Denmark in 2014, the farm has developed significantly.
- It was precisely the limitations in being able to develop milk production in my close home country that made us choose Denmark and a farm of approximately 100 cows seven years ago, he says.
- We are still undergoing expansion and will expand to 1,000 cows this year. With a slightly increasing proportion of grass and self-produced protein in the feed ration, maize remains a dominant forage for us. Altogether, there is a need for 200 hectares of grass and 300 hectares of maize, partly from our own 250 hectares as well as leased areas and agreements for maize that is bought from the field.
When Martijn Damsteegt established himself in Sønder Jutland and wanted to manage the manure application himself, it was first with a SAMSON PG 20, then a SAMSON PG II 25 and now the most recent change to a three-axle SAMSON PG II 28 with low-pressure tires and a used 12-metre grassland depositor.
- We buy the wagons as new and therefore change them every three years. It provides a great sense of security and now that there is a three-year warranty on SAMSON slurry tankers, we know exactly where we are with the costs. With a well-known and popular brand, we achieve an attractive resale price for the used wagon, which Samson Agrolize services and therefore knows very well, Martijn Damsteegt assesses.
Lukas Kolsch is in charge of most of the manure removal with the farm's own equipment. During the season, he gets help in the field from one or a couple of the total of 14 employees who mainly work in the stables.
With five or six cuts of grass from the 200 hectares of grass, it is nice to be able to control the slurry deposition yourself.
- We drive with fixed 12-metre tracks in the grassland - also with turn-off wagons - and now have a 12-metre feller and a new tractor that can easily handle the new PG II 28 wagon. We manage the mowing ourselves, but have the machine station to cut and drive the grass home with off-road vehicles. We deposit the slurry a few hours after the chopper has been driven out of the field, says Lukas Kolsch.
- All the manure is deposited and we mostly only grow forage. We exchange some areas with potato growers in the area and this year have 13 hectares of spring barley and 10 hectares of spring barley/peas, which is too little to justify investing in snake boom.
- Here we then deposit the manure before these crops and therefore only have the two depositors, a 7.5 meter black soil depositor and a 12 meter grassland depositor. For corn after corn, we plow to get the stubble into the ground, but otherwise drive without ploughing. First, a breakdown of plant residues with a disc harrow, then we deposit the slurry with our black soil depositor, a 7.5 meter toothpick depositor, and then finish the preparations with a deep harrowing at a depth of 20-25 centimetres.
- All 45,000 to 50,000 cubic meters of manure are deposited here from the farm. Not least because of the grassland precipitator, we have a fine and clean forage. There is literally no soiling of the grass when we deposit the manure after each mowing with our SAMSON TD 12 grassland depositor, Lukas Kolsch shows.
The new SAMSON PG II 28 was born with 800 millimeter low-pressure tires and, according to Lukas Kolsch, is incredibly easy to tow.
- We have no hills here and practice fixed tracks in a 12 meter system.
- From next year, when we get all the manure through the new biogas plant that is being built in Kliplev, we will drive a little less on the roads, because together with the degassing, we will be able to move the manure out into the tanks located outside the fields, says Lukas Kolsch.
Martijn Damsteegt also notes that the high post-crop requirement on the farm also has its bright sides after all.
- I can see that there is less pollution on the roads when we drive the corn home.
The post-crop grass, which we have in all our maize fields, means that there is less mud on the wheels and thus less dirt on the roads, says the observation.
The new slurry is prepared for most things.
- We know that quite a few used wagons are sold to Germany, so it is part of a high resale value that the wagon can easily be exported as used to Germany without major conversions.
- That's why I already know that when we have to switch to a new one in three years' time, it will be enough to have both air brakes and NIR equipment for real-time monitoring of nutrient content in the slurry, predicts Martijn Damsteegt.
When you place yourself with 1,000 dairy cows in the countryside, it is important to have the acceptance of the surroundings. Farmer Lukas Kolsch at milk producer Martijn Damsteegt near Tinglev likes to wash the manure wagon an extra time.
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