Online pig manure broker developed
Farmers at the recent Teagasc pig research dissemination days were told pig farmers using the system can search for a farmer to take slurry, based on factors such as distance, the amount of manure required, and whether the farmer has storage for pig manure.
The Nitrates Directive has left many farms that previously took pig manure at full capacity. And phasing out of transitional Nitrates Directive arrangements by 2017 will mean even more additional land must be sourced for spreading pig manure.
Mineral phosphorous (P) is a finite resource — which makes it all the more important that the P content in manure is sustainably used to its full potential on farms.
Pig manure is cheaper than chemical fertiliser, and improves soil organic matter content.
It has been suggested pig producers should shift the focus of pig manure application to tillage ground, which can sustainably utilise larger volumes of pig manure than livestock farms.
One of the biggest challenges facing pig farmers in the main pig counties — Cavan, Cork and Tipperary — is the long distance to suitable slurry spread-lands. Another big challenge is that pig farmers and farmers who can take slurry simply don’t know each other.
Hence the brokering tool developed by researchers across Europe, including Teagasc. A tillage farmer who wants pig manure can go online and search for a suitable pig farmer, based on distance and volume of slurry available. The brokering tool also facilitates exchange of grain between tillage and pig farms. The farmers’ locations are not disclosed; email serves as the first point of contact between farmers. The tool will calculate the best transport route.
