What is it?

[ruthandsam]

I'm being a little thick here but what is it that farmers spray onto their fields that smells so dreadful? I can cope with the smell of manure, in fact I quite like it but this other smell makes you want to throw up

Just came to mind as we were cycling next to a field where a tractor was spraying the stuff and a big gust of wind blew our way and we got covered, etc. Made us laugh a lot but still can't get rid of the smell or taste!! lol

[boxtops]

Pig Poo. It's awful, we get it a lot round here.

[ruthandsam]

Ahhhh, I can still smell it and taste it!! Thankkkkkkkkkkkks x

[missmuppet]

could've been chicken poo, we have that around here and it's rank! we've just had an application thrown out to build chicken sheds in our village and te biggest concern was the smell :-(

[boxtops]

I like the application being "thrown out" - unlike the poo....

[lardhelmet]

Talking of poo... I came down this morning to find my cat had performed in the middle of my shaggy cream rug - gawd what a pong! Lazy blighter c.b.a. to use the cat flap. He's got to go!!!

[ladybirder]

Don't you have a litter tray down for him?

[Mosaic]

I don't think it is just poo - it is animal urine mixed with poo which makes for that particular bouquet.

[lardhelmet]

No ladybirder -couldn't stand having to clean it out - hence the catflap!

[ladybirder]

I read an article somewhere that human poo is getting into the mix as well. Course I'm sure that's not in your area:-)

[Prudie]

I thought it was general animal slurry all mixed up, trouble is the smell stretches out for miles.

[Mosaic]

I was told by my GP that human slurry can be used by farmers - at the time my smallest had a tummy bug and the doc traced it back to 'cryptospiridion'(?) which is most commonly transferred via water run-off into reservoirs etc.

Is what my GP said.

[TWR]

Lardhelmet, a size 9 normaly cures that.

[lardhelmet]

That's what he got this morning TWR! Any more occurences of said incident & he's going down the vets! I'm not putting up with that cr*p (pardon the pun!)

[TWR]

LOL LOL After I posted that I thought you may take the huff, good on you lol lol x

[gen2]

Is this what you mean?
This farm was just 1 mile from a chicken farm but fields of cattle nearby as well.

[gen2]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gen2/3312167425/
Sorry, pressed submit before adding the link.

[vivandorron]

I know that, in some rural areas of the UK, farmers will empty the cesspits of local folk and spread the sludge onto fields upon which edible crops are grown.......So what....When I was a small boy and and the Loo was a bucket underneath a wooden seat in an outside wooden cabin (Ty Bach....Small house.) the contents of the bucket were then transferred to the garden's compost heap.

I'm still here in Wales to say so.....Ron.

[ruthandsam]

It smelled slightly different from the just poo and urine an almost sick smell. Err, where do animal carcasses go? Do they get added to the mixture?

What a revolting conversation - sorry. Going to have my tea now, meatballs (not joking)!!

[vivandorron]

All sorts of crap is used nowadays in agriculture. Hence the reason for vegetables not having the flavour they once had.

Ron

[Mosaic]

V and Ron - it's a question of concentration per acre, speed of run-off and presence of infection in the aforesaid human slurry ie someone already got the lurg......now great as cottage gardens are / were, spreading infected human waste onto food crops or where runoff or seepage will get directly into water supply ensures the lurg gets shared around.
Which is what happened to my child - the runoff was going into the local reservoir.