2021 Fertilizing season: Vogelsang launches new products for liquid manure spreading and pump technology

With the compact UniSpread, Vogelsang is introducing another powerful system for spreading liquid manure close to the ground and with low emissions. The BlackBird trailing shoe system with a 24-meter working width is the focus for larger working widths. Components such as SyreN and the new pump technologies enable optimal liquid manure utilization and pumping. “Our goal is to completely utilize the liquid manure, with all of its nutrients, save on mineralize fertilizer and reduce emissions. This not only makes the entire liquid manure management process more economical, it also boosts social acceptance and environmental sustainability,” says Harald Vogelsang, Managing Director of Vogelsang.

The newly developed products are intended to enable farmers and contractors to continue using their existing spreading technology and retrofit it for compliance with regulations, at a reasonable investment.

UniSpread: Compact system provides retrofitting solution

Based on this demand Vogelsang developed the UniSpread universal system. With small working widths of six to nine meters and with a lower total weight, it offers the same precision and power as the Vogelsang spreading systems already established on the market. The difference: The UniSpread system has a compact design that makes it easy to maneuver and can be equipped with various liquid manure outlets, such as dribble bar or trailing shoe technology, depending on where it is used.

The ExaCut precision distributor ensures homogeneous, flowable liquid manure and distributes it evenly across the outlet hoses. With a coefficient of variation of less than five percent, the UniSpread spreads liquid manure precisely and close to the ground.

BlackBird with 24 meter working width

With a working width of 24 meters, the BlackBird trailing shoe system offers precise and low-emissions liquid manure placement with even greater area coverage. The side arms are arranged centrally on a robust frame. This ensures stability while also giving the booms the flexibility they need for optimal adjustment to ground contours. The side arms can be individually controlled and collapsed into a transport width of under three meters. The larger BlackBird model also features the innovative runners and outlets, as well as the ExaCut ECQ precision distributor, which has won awards for its precision and maintainability.

Fully utilize nutrients with SyreN

To optimally utilize the nutrients in the liquid manure and make them more available to the plant, Vogelsang cooperated with Danish company BioCover to expand its product portfolio with SyreN. The partnership applies in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Benelux states, France, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The chemical process stabilizes the liquid manure by adding sulphuric acid and reduces nitrogen losses by up to 70 percent.

The SyreN system uses a sensor to automatically measure the pH value of the liquid manure and adds the necessary quantity of sulphuric acid to lower it and stabilize the liquid manure at the target value. This is because liquid manure contains a high quantity of nitrogen that is dissolved in the liquid manure fluid and appears in the form of ammonia and ammonium. Both forms of nitrogen are chemically balanced in the liquid manure medium. When the pH value of the liquid manure is lowered, this balance changes. A greater share of the gaseous ammonia is then converted into ammonium (salt), which does not evaporate from the liquid manure. A pH value of 6.0 triggers this chemical reaction and is considered the target value for SyreN.

Lower nitrogen losses and emissions

The concentrated sulphuric acid is kept in a front tank and is fed into the liquid manure stream in a mixing chamber directly upstream of the linkage. The mixture of sulphuric acid and liquid manure splits into ammonium and sulphate of sulphur. Both compounds are optimally suited as plant nutrients because the plants can directly absorb them as nitrogen and sulphur fertilizers. Harald Vogelsang says, “SyreN is a closed, reliable system with which farmers and contractors can retrofit their existing technologies, such as dribble bar and trailing shoe systems, and thereby achieve low emissions comparable to those achieved with the slitting technology. At the same time, they benefit from the power and high area coverage of this spreading technique.”

Pump technology: Reduced lobe weight, modified wear plate

The further-developed rotary lobes of the Vogelsang pumps also deliver greater efficiency in liquid manure spreading. The HiFlo resist rotary lobes feature a ribbed core that is lighter compared to the previous completely cast core. The core is partially cast with rubber that now also reaches into the intermediate cavities due to the ribbed design and can therefore also interlock more closely with the core. This not only makes the lobe lighter, but also increases its stability.

Vogelsang has also modified the wear plate and added shoulders on both sides in order to form a stepped closure when screwed. This ensures that fibrous matter is kept away from the seal, in order to reduce the wear on the seal. This serves to extend the service life of the seal inside the pump up to four times. The new wear plate can be installed in the rotary lobe pumps of the VX series and serves as a one-to-one replacement for the standard plate.

More information on agricultural news available on: www.vogelsang.info/int/virtual-update