Thomas Hi Thomas, yes a valid point and can be one of the barriers for adaption of these alternative fertilisers at farm level. In Ireland animal production mainly dairy and poultry can be quite concentrated leading to the disposal of manures onto land within close proximity of holdings. Over time continuous application of nutrients may lead to excess posing a risk to the environment through environment loss to our waterways and air. To get a more balanced distribution of nutrients across our land the movement of low dry matter bulky manures is required from high intensive livestock areas to more extensive agricultural areas.
The economics of transporting low dry matter manure over long distances is often not a viable option. So is there a solution? Fortunately there are technologies available across the EU and operational in Ireland such as mechanical separation of slurries where the liquid fraction of the manure is separated from the solid fraction. In return this leaves two sources of nutrients from the same manure, one being a higher dry matter material which will have a higher concentration of nutrients and may lend itself to transport over longer distances. The low dry matter liquid fraction can be then applied to land close to the farm holding and will have a low nutrient concentration. There is also scope to further refine each product into more concentrated nutrient sources by adapting technologies such as composting, thermal drying, Gasification, Hydrothermal carbonisation and pyrolysis of a higher DM product and struvite precipitation, stripping and scrubbing of lower DM nutrient sources.
For the poultry industry thermal drying is a useful technology when installed in poultry units to remove moisture and leave a higher DM product that can be transported from areas in the midlands and North of Ireland where poultry is more prominent areas in the South.
