A new start-up business will launch a mobile slurry separation service for livestock farmers in the Mid Ulster area.
The initiative, one of three envisaged for Northern Ireland, will be supported through funding secured from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), linked to the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI).
The project will be delivered under the aegis of Northern Ireland’s Centre for Competitiveness.
A total of £12M will be made available to help fund the slurry separation projects.
These will be developed into holistic farm waste treatment initiatives focussed on the attainment of the following objectives within the next three years: the trialling of anaerobic digestion (AD) at scale to produce biomethane; and the active extraction of phosphate from animal slurries.
Previously, Blakiston Houston Estates in Co. Down had been confirmed as the first slurry separation and treatment hub. Details of the third project will follow.
Research and development work carried out by teams at both the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) has indicated that large scale AD could produce up to 83% of the natural gas currently used in Northern Ireland with biomethane.
There are also a number of options available when it comes to the use of extracted phosphate, including the development of organic manures and new, Portland cement-free concrete mix specifications.
But the bottom line is that all of the removed phosphate must be exported out of Northern Ireland or put to uses that do not see the chemical put back out on local agricultural land.
It is envisaged that the second slurry separation and treatment project will be officially named: The Mid Ulster Slurry and Nutrient Management Project.
It has already secured commercial support from Cemcor, the RSC Group, Tobermore Concrete Products Ltd, and Alltech, four businesses with a significant footprint within the envisaged catchment area of the new slurry separation service.
Farmers were recently invited to a meeting, held at the College of Agriculture’s Food and Rural Enterprise’s (CAFRE) Loughry campus. Its purpose was to profile the scope of the mid Ulster slurry separation and treatment project.
AFBI
AFBI’s Chris Johnston spoke of the absolute need to reduce the levels of phosphate reaching Northern Ireland’s water courses at the present time.
“Currently 11,000t of excess phosphate is reaching rivers and streams each year, with animal slurries making a key contribution in this regard in this regard,” he explained.
“The plan is to reduce this surplus to around 5,000t per annum. If this level can be reached the improvements in water quality that can be achieved will be significant. Slurry separation is at the start of a process that can bring about significant reductions in phosphate application rates to agricultural land.”
Johnston added: “Many parts of the world are currently dealing with phosphate deficits. Here in Northern Ireland, the polar opposite is the case.
“This is attributable to the fact that our livestock sectors rely on large tonnages of imported grains and proteins for inclusion within compound rations.”
Slurry separation
Dr. James Young, the Project Technical Lead for Mid Ulster Project (Centre for Competitiveness) confirmed in his presentation that the new mobile, slurry separation service will be available from the beginning of March.
It is envisaged that the initiative will be ‘cost neutral’ from participating farmers’ perspective.
Slurry separators can deliver a range of physical results. However, it is anticipated that, on average, they can take out approximately 30% of the phosphate contained in slurries.
Young explained that “separation, in its own right, delivers significant benefits for livestock farmers.
“In the first instance, it reduces the storage capacity required on farms. But, in addition, the liquid fraction that remains can be more easily applied using low emission spreading systems. The Centre for Competitiveness is delighted to facilitate this innovative sustainability programme on behalf of the Mid Ulster project.
“It will enable farms to manage and track their nutrients on-farm, deal with capacity issues, and get ahead of increasing compliance from customers [agri-processors] and regulatory changes from government, ensuring business resilience.
“Above all else this will begin to shape and show how agriculture can lead the way in increased sustainability practices on a cross-sectoral basis,” he concluded.
Queen’s University Belfast
Ian Marshall, from QUB, also attended the Loughry meeting. He foresees the three pilot slurry-related projects as being forerunners of bio-refineries, which will act to deliver a coherent response on climate change on behalf of Northern Ireland as a whole.
Marshall said: “This initiative is about much more than the processing of slurry. It places the farming sectors at the strategic centre of our response to climate change.
“In other words: farming is the solution.
“And by taking this approach the pressure to reduce livestock numbers no longer becomes an issue.”
DAERA
DAERA officials believe that the three pilot slurry-focused projects have the capacity to reduce phosphate loading on Northern Ireland’s soils to be approximately 1,000t per annum.
The Department’s deputy director for green growth, Jonathan McFerran, attended the Loughry meeting, and said: “Farmer engagement in slurry separation and export of slurry solids for anaerobic digestion is a crucial first step in a much wider process that can lead to a more sustainable agri-food sector.
“Farmers will see early benefits with a reduction in the nutrient loading of their farms, extra capacity in their slurry tanks and less issues with the use of low emission slurry spreading equipment due to the more liquid nature of the remaining liquid fraction.”
He continued: “Farmers will also be contributing to a chain of positive impacts well beyond the farm gate, with slurry solids being used to produce renewable gas and electricity to help decarbonise other sectors of the economy and provide the raw materials to develop a range of innovative products, high in excess nutrients, which can be exported outside of Northern Ireland.”
A number of farmers in attendance at the Loughry event signed up to avail of the new slurry separation service on the night.
The financial viability of slurry processing depends on large-scale, centralised systems.
The Mid Ulster Project aims to both prove the concept and value of mobile slurry separation to the agri community, supporting them with their nutrient management through certified separation and removal of excess nutrients, creating a higher quality liquid fraction to fertilise their land.
The costs benefits model of farmers involved in the project and development of the centralised plant will be established throughout the duration of the three-year project.
Benefits include certified removal of phosphorus of the farms, reduced farm carbon footprints, improved compliance with regulations, and lower reliance on imported fertilisers.
There are also potential cost savings for farmers through reduced fertiliser costs and improved resource efficiency.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, is making no secret of his absolute support for the slurry separation and AD projects.
He believes they have the “potential to radically change the way nutrients are managed by the farming community”.
