On the right, farmer Lukas Kolsch, who is responsible for transporting almost 50,000 tons of slurry every year from the large dairy herd near Tinglev - Martin Damsteegt on the left.
When placing 1,000 dairy cows in the landscape, it's important to have the acceptance of the surroundings. Fieldman Lukas Kolsch at dairy farmer Martijn Damsteegt near Tinglev is happy to wash the slurry tanker one more time.
Dairy farmer Martijn Damsteegt near Tinglev, Denmark, washes his new Samson PG II 28 frequently and changes his tractor and slurry tanker every three years.
- But it is part of the strategy, admits both Martijn Damsteegt and the 800-cow farm farmer, Lukas Kolsch, who manages the production of roughage for the large milk production at Hedsgaard and Mindegaarden near Tinglev.
- We make sure the machines look good and try to keep the slurry tanker reasonably clean when there is time to do so.
Although agriculture is highly recognized in the local community, image and reputation is an important element in ensuring that local people speak well of agriculture.
Martijn Damsteegt is pleased that a couple of the family's four children were praised on TV Syd and in Børneavisen for collecting discarded beer cans in the field edges and thereby engaging 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 discarded beer cans from the fields. They appeared both on TV Syd and - as here - in Børneavisen for the initiative.
Meanwhile, farmer Lukas Kolsch sends a loving thought to the SAMSON designers.
- It's a very simple and robust design, and it's well controlled that the hoses to the folding tine are emptied, so there is virtually no slurry spillage on the roads when we drive back and forth between field and slurry tank, says Lukas Kolsch about working with the almost 50,000 tons of slurry in the local area.
Small but important details prevent slurry spills on public roads. Lukas Kolsch shows here the closing mechanism on the SAMSON TD 12 forage harvester that makes it almost drip-free during transportation.
- I'm trying hard with the pump crane, but just when I'm done swinging it into place, it's almost impossible to avoid a little slurry dripping onto the tank. This is immediately noticeable and makes it difficult to keep the truck reasonably clean during work," he says, regretting that he doesn't have a smart solution for this either.
Since Martijn Damsteegt and family decided to move from the Netherlands to Denmark in 2014, the business has developed significantly.
- It was precisely the limitations of being able to develop milk production in my close home country that made us choose Denmark and a farm of around 100 cows seven years ago," he says.
- We are still expanding and this year we are expanding to 1,000 cows. With a slightly increasing share of grass and self-produced protein in the feed ration, corn remains a dominant roughage for us. In total, 200 hectares of grass and 300 hectares of corn are needed, partly from our own 250 hectares as well as leased land and agreements for corn purchased ex-field.
When Martijn Damsteegt set up in Southern Jutland and wanted to do his own slurry spreading, it was first with a SAMSON PG 20, then a SAMSON PG II 25 and now the latest switch to a three-axle SAMSON PG II 28 with low-pressure tires and a used 12 meter grass catcher.
- We buy the vehicles as new and change them every three years. This gives us great peace of mind and now that SAMSON slurry trailers come with a three-year warranty, we know exactly where we are with costs. With a well-known and popular brand, we achieve an attractive resale price for the used vehicle, which Samson Agrolize services and therefore knows very well, says Martijn Damsteegt.
Lukas Kolsch is responsible for most of the slurry removal with the company's own equipment. During the season, he is assisted in the field by one or two of the 14 employees who mainly work in the stables.
With five or six cuts of grass from the 200 hectares of grass, it's nice to be able to control the slurry deposition yourself.
- We run with fixed 12 meter tracks in the pasture - also with exit vehicles - and now have a 12 meter trap and a new tractor that can easily handle the new PG II 28 trailer. We do the cutting ourselves, but have the contractors cut and transport the grass home with delivery trucks. We deposit the slurry a few hours after the cutter has been driven out of the field," says Lukas Kolsch.
- All the manure is slurried and we basically only grow forage. We swap some land with potato growers in the area and this year we have 13 hectares of spring barley and 10 hectares of spring barley/peas, which is too little to justify investing in snakeboom.
- Here we trap the slurry before these crops and therefore only have the two traps, a 7.5 meter black soil trap and a 12 meter grassland trap. For corn after corn, we plow to get the stubble into the ground, but otherwise run plow-free. First, we break down the plant residue with a disc harrow, then we trap the slurry with our black soil precipitator, a 7.5 meter serrated precipitator, and then finish the preparation with a deep harrowing at a depth of 20-25 centimeters.
- This means that all 45,000 to 50,000 cubic meters of slurry is deposited here from the farm. Not least because of the pasture precipitator, we have a fine and clean roughage. There is literally no soiling of the grass when we drop the slurry after each mowing with our SAMSON TD 12 grass catcher, shows Lukas Kolsch.
The new SAMSON PG II 28 is 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 lanes 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 move the manure to the tanks located out by the fields," says Lukas Kolsch.
Cleaner wheels with cover crop grass
Martijn Damsteegt also notes that the high after-crop requirement on the farm also has its bright side.
- I can see that there is less dirt on the roads when we drive the corn home.
The catch crop grass that we have in all our cornfields means there is less mud on the wheels and therefore less mess on the roads, is the observation.
The new slurry gear is prepared for most things.
- We know that a lot of used vehicles are sold to Germany, so part of a high resale value is that the vehicle can easily be exported as used to Germany without major modifications.
- That's why I already know that when we have to change to a new one in three years, it will probably have both air brakes and NIR equipment for real-time monitoring of the nutrient content of the slurry," predicts Martijn Damsteegt.
When placing 1,000 dairy cows in the landscape, it's important to have the acceptance of the surroundings. Fieldman Lukas Kolsch at dairy farmer Martijn Damsteegt near Tinglev is happy to wash the slurry tanker one more time.
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