A dribble bar is a tool bar or boom (48 to 60 ft. wide) with drop hoses at seven to 10 inch spacing that touches the soil. It requires less horse power than injection equipment and can cover a larger acreage in a shorter period of time. Liquid manure is applied to the surface, potentially to growing crops such as wheat, forages and standing corn. The toolbar can also apply manure after wheat harvest, potentially mixing and slurry seeding cover crops in the same application.
As farm operators replace manure application equipment or fine-tune management to hire custom applicators, they will evaluate which system best meets their needs. With new technology that includes GPS, site specific management, flow meters and auto-steer, and with an environmental focus on improved nitrogen and phosphorus utilization, there is a need to demonstrate this technology to Ontario producers and custom manure applicators.
Farm & Food Care worked in partnership with Husky Farm Equipment and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs to host demonstration events in 2015 to showcase the equipment and how it works.
The workshops demonstrated in-field multi-crop precision manure/digestate application using dribble bar technology; tanker and drag hose options, as well as other application technologies, were used in conjunction with the dribble bar.