On Friday 11th October seven delegates gathered in ‘The Knut’ at St.Just to attend a LANTRA course entitled ‘Award in the Safe use of Fertilisers & Manures’. The trainer Chris, who was a full time farmer and agricultural trainer from the Cotswolds delivered the course on behalf of Greenway Training. Chris specialised in arable farming on Cotswold ‘brash’ with some low lying fields which are subject to periodic flooding. He is also involved in delivering fork-lift and agricultural sprayer training.
The course covered the following subjects:
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Correct use and application of fertilisers & manures
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Legislation connected with the application of fertilisers & manures
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Types of manure and fertilisers
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Environmental impacts
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Safe storage & Transport
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Health & safety
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Types of applicators/spreaders
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NVZ rules etc.
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The importance of accurate record keeping
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Plus other related topics
Chris, the trainer, presented these topics in a detailed and humorous way which helped to keep everyone's attention and stimulated debate within the group. A pasty lunch was provided and positive feedback was received from all the delegates. Particular areas that arose from the discussions were the need to carry out annual servicing / calibration of your farm's fertiliser applicator and the lack of publicity surrounding the ‘Farming rules for water’ which came into force in April 2018. If you would like to learn more about them please click here.
