Two different projects are continuing to develop methods of removing excess phosphorus from NI farms as part of a DAERA-funded scheme.

At Stormont last Thursday, MLAs on the agriculture committee received a written update from the department on the Sustainable Utilisation of Livestock Slurry (SULS) programme.

It includes the Farm2Export project by Blakiston-Houston (BH) Estates which uses multiple mobile slurry separators to process livestock slurry and anaerobic digestate.

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Reading from the DAERA briefing, committee chair Robbie Butler said the Dundonald-based project is aiming to produce a “commercially viable bio-fertiliser”.

“To date, 65 farms have participated in the project, separating and transporting over 6,300 tonnes of solids and the volume of biogas produced so far is in the region of 638,000 cubic metres,” the Ulster Unionist MLA said.

As part of the SULS programme, BH Estates has recently acquired a new centrifuge separator which should become operational next month.

This type of separator is able to capture a much higher proportion of solids from slurry and digestate, when compared to a standard mobile separator.

In turn, this means more phosphorus should be removed and will be able to be exported off farms in the form of bio-fertiliser.

A mid-Ulster-based consortium, known as the Centre for Competitiveness, is another SULS project which is aiming to use slurry separating technology to produce bio-fertiliser and low-carbon building material.

“On-farm AD operations are progressing with negotiations of long-term supply agreements with a small number of AD plants,” Butler said.

“To date, 25 farms have participated in on-farm separation with 257 tonnes of slurry solids being removed from farms in Mid-Ulster producing approximately 6,425 cubic metres of biogas,” he added.

Funding

The two projects were each awarded £4m as part of the three-year SULS programme and a third project has also been earmarked for funding with negotiations ongoing.

However, Butler said he had concerns about the slow progress of the third project, given that the end date for SULS is September 2027.

Deputy chair of the committee, Declan McAleer, was in agreement and pointed out that slurry separation is seen as a key solution for improving water quality in NI.

“The department needs to up-scale this at pace,” the Sinn Féin MLA said.