It is often said that slurry is an undervalued food source on some Irish farms, and this is also often the case for farm manure (FYM).
Many farmers who use FYM in a targeted manner will be well aware of its soil health benefits, but other farmers may not be.
The benefits of FYM to soil was one of the research topics discussed at the recent Teagasc conference entitled “Agriculture for a better future”. Open day At Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford.
In the Soil Health and Grassland Management section of the open day, new Teagasc research (Lepore et al., 2025) was discussed that explores the role of mortar, FYM and gypsum in restoring grassland soils degraded by machinery traffic.
The research was conducted using X-ray CT scanning and physical measurements to test the effect of different inputs.
Results
She found that FYM was the most effective modification, improving bulk density and pore size within six months of application.
FYM has also been found to restore soil structure faster than mortar or gypsum.
The research also found that mortar was effective in wet soil conditions while gypsum promoted recovery in dry soil over the long term.
All three modifications (FYM, mortar, and gypsum) failed under waterlogged conditions reinforcing the message that application timing and trafficking are as important as the product itself.
According to the report: “You cannot fix pressure by spreading over saturated ground.”
The relevance of this research to a farm-scale scenario suggests that if soil structure is damaged, application of FYM or separated slurry solids is the quickest route to recovery, but only when ground conditions allow.
The message of the right product at the right time in the right conditions on that day was also reinforced.
