I'm new to the forum and would like to know what the farmers out there think about using digestate out of AD plants. If anyone has used it or would like to use it, instead of the costly chemical fertilisers!
I would consider it, yes. I already import circa 10,000 tonnes of organic matter every year as PAS100 green compost, sewage digestate cake & horse/cow/chicken manure.
The key bit is calculating the cost/benefit of the fertiliser value plus unquantifiable organic matter value, minus direct costs of buying it, spreading & the soil damage of compaction from the application machinery.
Would you consider an umbilical system with a nurse tank fed by artic tankers? A good source of low cost storage for you as a producer is an ex dairy farmer with a slurry lagoon you can fill all year round then thye can spread it when soil/crop conditions are suitable. It would be worth talking to the Environment Agency about the implications of using old slurry towers/lagoons under SAFFO regulations vis a vis storing industrial wastes. Another benefit would be for said ex dairy farmer to grow your feedstock & ensile it in their old silage clamps.