Brief summary of MUC project team to visit the UK (6-13th March 2011)

Six Chines collaborators from the SAIN MUC project team visited the UK between the 6# and 12# March 2011. These research scientists were: Dr. Yu Guanghui and Prof. Xu Yangchun (Nanjing Agricultural University, Jiangsu); Prof. Chen Qing and Dr. Wang Fanghao (China Agricultural University, Beijing); Prof. Tong Yan'an and Tian Xiao Hong (The Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University, Yangling)

The objectives of the visit were to:

 1） to review progress with the SAIN MUC project

 2) to describe and demonstrate typical manure management practices and advice in the UK

 3) to introduce current research on manure management issues in the UK

 4) to describe current legislation affecting manure management

Dave Chadwick picked up the visitors from Heathrow airport (6th March) and spent the first evening at a hotel near Harpenden. Our first day was spent at RRes where we had an introduction to RRes by Prof Keith Goulding followed by our MUC project meeting (photo). In the afternoon, Andy MacDonald took us around the RRes soil archive and long-term experimental plots at Broadbalk and Park Grass (see photo).

The next day we were hosted by ADAS Boxworth (Cambridge). Peter Dampney summarised the most important legislation affecting manure management in the UK - the Nitrate Directive, and the UKs action programme and how farmers have to manage timing of manure applications, length of manure storage periods, requirements for a manure management plan etc. Peter Dampney also discussed manure nutrient advice in the UK and the use of RB209 as well as PLANET. John Willams then demonstrated research that ADAS were conducting on the impacts of slurry applicatioin timings on water quality and gaseous emissions at the large ADAS lysimeters (see photo).

The following day we visited Jack Moody's composting plant (Wolverhampton), where we saw windrow and in-vessel composting (not livestock manure - but principles the same) - very little livestock manure in the UK is windrow composted （photo）.

We travelled down to the SW afterwards and visitors stayed in Exeter. Thursday we wisited typical livestock farms and discussed and saw traditional manure management practices on a mixed livestock farm (60 dairy, 250 sheep 3500 chickens per year) (photo) and on a large dairy farm (300+) with slurry separator and lagoon. This farm also produced its own cheese on site (Mary Quicke's) (photo).

Finally on the 11th we visited RRes-North Wyke to see and hear about manure related R&D, the use of isotopes to study C and N from manures, modelling approaches as well as see the R&D facilities for studing impacts of manure management on air and water quality through the manure management continuum (housing-storage-treatment-spreading) (photo)