What is the black smelly stuff farmers spray on their fields

[broodyat39]

So I have just been walking my dog on the fields where we live and whilst on the fields a farmer was spreading a black smelly sticky type of manure? The field isn't used for crops it's just overgrown grass from what I can gather? Does anyone know what this substance is?

Slurry?

Dairy cow shit, kept in tanks & then spread at the appropriate time.

Yes it’s slurry

Liquid shit

Overgrown grass becomes hay or more likely silage, which is kept and used as cow food.

Slurry is a fertiliser.

The farmer is feeding the grass slurry so that it grows so he can feed his animals grass / hay / silage....

Slurry.

You live and walk your dogs near farmed fields and you have never come across slurry?

Never whilst actually walking on the field 😆

Slurry 🤢 very dangerous to manage, I know a man who became overcome by the fumes and ended up falling into the tank and dying.

Slurry. Stinks.

It absolutely reeked, is it dangerous to dogs/humans who come into direct contact with it?

My cousin fell into the slurry pit once when we were kids. Thankfully he was fine but it caused a fair amount of panic.

Is it black and very very sticky? It almost seemed like soft plastic

The grass is a crop too and used as animal feed, either eaten from the field or cut for hay or silage. So the farmer wants to encourage the grass to grow.

Also a little surprised that someone living in the countryside doesn't know this already, but good to ask of course.

Do you mean if you / your dog stepped in it ? No , just wash it off, the same as if you stepped in a cow pat.

It will look plasticky if it's been in the tanks a while. I'm surprised that they are spraying it rather than drilling it in, to be honest, really warm weather is forecast and it's going to scorch the grass!

It won't do you or your dog any harm, OP, other than being smelly. My dog loves to roll in slurry when it's just been spread - that's always a fun day.

I don't live in the countryside but wish I did! It's just a field dog walkers use to walk their dogs, I have just never actually been on a field whilst they have sprayed it

My cat fell in the slurry pit. God only knows how she got herself out without being overcome by the fumes. We put her straight in the sink and drowned her with water and dog shampoo. And she didn't put up a fight. She just stood there looking horribly ashamed and very sorry for herself. And she still stank afterwards. Every time I see a Mog book, I think of her. She was always getting into stupid situations that cat.

Thanks for the reassurance, I panicked and ended up thinking it could be human waste as I have seen a lot lately about how it could be or is used as a fertiliser on farm land

I've just realised that phrasing sounds like we literally drowned her! I just mean we had to use A LOT of water and shampoo before the water ran clear! She was fine, the smell eventually went, and she lived a long and happy life winding up the farm mice.

Slurry, cow shit, pig shit, pig blood, chicken shit… all good fertiliser and stinking.

You always know when the farmers have been out 'muck spreading'🤢!

It’s fine to just walk by, be in the area etc. Animals can still move around the fields. It’s dangerous to get entrapped by the fumes e.g. in an underground pit, but you’re fine in the fresh air!! 😁 apart from the smell of course.

They were talking about banning this a few years ago due to environmental and health concerns
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/14/muck-spreading-could-be-banned-to-reduce-air-pollution

Around here it's all 'drilled in' rather than spread, so it goes straight into the ground rather than in the air. Better for the crop, as it goes into the roots rather than all over the leaves, but it still smells!