Dispatches - Red Tractor

cowboysupper

Member
Mixed Farmer
ea have rejected the idea of a power station fed off chicken muck on outskirts of Hereford.

Have there been any proposals to build anaerobic digesters which are fed purely on chicken litter? We have 1 very large one in Northern Ireland and I think there are 2 farm scale digesters which have converted to litter only. The large one has planning proposals to increase its capacity significantly and if approval is granted the vast majority of litter will go to digesters within the next 5 years. NI previously looked at incineration but it was rejected on environmental grounds.

At least with digesters there is another process that generates electricity and the digestate can go through further processing if necessary to either suit farmers or horticulture businesses. The large digester I mention is sending most of their solids into the horticulture sector (both commerical and domestic).
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Heard the following this morning:


"Project Tara focuses on the dairy sector and anaerobic digestion sites in Herefordshire. The Environment Agency has been awarded funding to undertake an additional 60 inspections. We will target visits based on incidents and priority areas. All permitted anaerobic digestion sites in Herefordshire will receive a visit and in the Lugg catchment dairy farms will be visited. There will also be a study carried out into the production and use of poultry litter in Herefordshire as part of this project.

As part of a new project covering England the Environment Agency has recruited 50 Agriculture Regulatory Inspection Officers. These officers will focus on Natura 2000 Protected Sites, including the Wye catchment in Herefordshire where 4 officers will be based. The officers will undertake catchment-based farm inspections and will focus on agriculture regulation.

This will include SSAFO, NVZs and Farming Rules for Water. Visits for this project will commence in January 2022.
"
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Have there been any proposals to build anaerobic digesters which are fed purely on chicken litter? We have 1 very large one in Northern Ireland and I think there are 2 farm scale digesters which have converted to litter only. The large one has planning proposals to increase its capacity significantly and if approval is granted the vast majority of litter will go to digesters within the next 5 years. NI previously looked at incineration but it was rejected on environmental grounds.

At least with digesters there is another process that generates electricity and the digestate can go through further processing if necessary to either suit farmers or horticulture businesses. The large digester I mention is sending most of their solids into the horticulture sector (both commerical and domestic).

Same difference really. Poultry litter is burnt to power electricity turbines, not just to get rid of it, with the resultant ash then sold as Fibrophos (a P&K fertiliser). If it is put through a digester, it is fermented to produce gas, which is then burnt to produce electricity.

It's still burning stuff to produce power, whichever way it's done.
 
Same difference really. Poultry litter is burnt to power electricity turbines, not just to get rid of it, with the resultant ash then sold as Fibrophos (a P&K fertiliser). If it is put through a digester, it is fermented to produce gas, which is then burnt to produce electricity.

It's still burning stuff to produce power, whichever way it's done.

At least powerstations aren't creating a liquid which has to be disposed of. A dry product can be carted economically.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Their chief complaint is that the area has too much nutrient in it due to the number of farms etc? That being the case, burn the poultry litter and make it a dry product you can transport out of the area.

If burnt in a power station in Herefordshire then yes I agree that would make a lot of sense to reduce weight/volume and transport a more concentrated product.

Transporting it out of the area to the existing poultry burning power stations would seem less logical, hence my comment above.
 

Bruce Almighty

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Warwickshire
It does seem pretty ludicrous that we are all paying the price for stuff going on in certain areas
In my opinion one of the points that the programme made was that it was "mega farms" that were causing the problems. It didn't visit any smaller farms, maybe there aren't any smaller broiler farms ?

Would it be fair to say that some of the big dairies are causing similar problems?
Maybe some small dairies are causing problems but as they are smaller it should be a smaller problem?

Resulting in strict rules for everyone.
We all know the driving force behind the big farms is economics, driven by supermarkets and the demand for cheap food, which was one of the main points of the programme.

In my opinion, the massive point the programme failed to mention is the scandalous dumping of raw sewage in rivers by water boards.
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
In my opinion one of the points that the programme made was that it was "mega farms" that were causing the problems. It didn't visit any smaller farms, maybe there aren't any smaller broiler farms ?

Would it be fair to say that some of the big dairies are causing similar problems?
Maybe some small dairies are causing problems but as they are smaller it should be a smaller problem?

Resulting in strict rules for everyone.
We all know the driving force behind the big farms is economics, driven by supermarkets and the demand for cheap food, which was one of the main points of the programme.

In my opinion, the massive point the programme failed to mention is the scandalous dumping of raw sewage in rivers by water boards.

This country seems to want to tell farmers to product cheap food, and then condemn them for doing so.

Do we want small farms, or large farms? Decide and go from there.

Do we want cheap food or not? Decide and move forward.

Are we happy with the standard of imported food, or the standards that we impose on our own farms?

Lack of clarity of the above are causing these mixed messages which leave farmers caught in the middle struggling to do right for doing wrong.
 

cowboysupper

Member
Mixed Farmer
Same difference really. Poultry litter is burnt to power electricity turbines, not just to get rid of it, with the resultant ash then sold as Fibrophos (a P&K fertiliser). If it is put through a digester, it is fermented to produce gas, which is then burnt to produce electricity.

It's still burning stuff to produce power, whichever way it's done.
Do you not vaporise all the nitrogen if it is burnt?
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Farmers arguing about the size of farm being an issue is ridiculous. There is god awful small livestock farms in the same way there is terribly run large farms and vice versa in all businesses and sectors.

I think it’s less farmers arguing about it, more the government blaming both.

Small farms are viewed as inefficient and less easy to control.

Large farms are unpopular with the public and demonised.
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
Farmers arguing about the size of farm being an issue is ridiculous. There is god awful small livestock farms in the same way there is terribly run large farms and vice versa in all businesses and sectors.
Farm size is an indication of declining viability which is driven by the corporate food system. There just isn't enough time on a mixed family farm to do it all properly and still keep the records up to date. Something has to give.

There must have been nearly 20 farmworkers in the 70s where I grew up. Now there is one and a one man band contractor.
 

tullah

Member
Location
Linconshire
Government policy of a rigged system is to blame for the destruction of this green and pleasant land. Just look at how the capital grants are structured and the compulsory membership of quangos for a start.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.3%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.9%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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