DAERA awards £4m to project focused on sustainable use of slurry

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has awarded a company £4 million to advance sustainable utilisation of livestock slurry.

Natural World Products (NWP) has been awarded the funding to help Northern Ireland’s agriculture sector reduce excess phosphorus from livestock slurry, as part of the further roll-out of the Lough Neagh Action Plan.

The award has been presented as part of the DAERA Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Phase 2 project for the Sustainable Utilisation of Livestock Slurry (SULS).

The SULS project aims to undertake research and development into the advancement of demonstrator sites to process livestock manure/slurry to remove excess phosphorus from the environment.

NWP’s successful project focuses on the development of Northern Ireland’s first high‑solids anaerobic digestion (HSAD) facility, located at Glenside, Dunmurry.

This plant will trial the integration of cattle and pig slurry solids, alongside organic materials such as municipal food and garden waste, to produce biomethane and peat-free compost.

All SULS Phase 2 projects are due to be completed by October 2028.

Project

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir said that by investing in research to support sustainable slurry solutions, “we are taking steps to contribute to improve water quality at Lough Neagh and elsewhere whilst also supporting farm businesses”.

“I am delighted to see the third and final SULS Phase 2 contract awarded to NWP for their project,” Minister Muir said.

“DAERA funding will support deployment of additional mobile slurry separation units that will visit local farms to remove phosphorus-rich digestate solids for transport to the HSAD plant.”

The minister said this will leave farmers with “nitrogen-rich liquid which is more easily spread using low emissions slurry spreading equipment”.

Nutrient overload

DAERA funding will also be used for equipment to process liquid digestate on site at the HSAD plant.

Remaining solids will be blended into NWP’s PAS100 compost.

This will help reduce phosphorus application on Northern Ireland land and ease excess nutrient challenges for farmers.

Peter Summerton, managing director at NWP, added: “Addressing nutrient overload and seeking to improve the health of our soils and waterways is a key structural challenge facing our region.

“Equally, transitioning away from peat-based growing media products in horticulture is a must if we are to protect our peatlands as vital carbon sinks and areas of natural biodiversity.”

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