BIRCHAM ELECTRICAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS, FAKENHAM, NORFOLK
Agri-Tech East and Innovative Farmers to improve the use of di- gestate on farms,” he says. “We plan to have trials on the farm here applying acid to digestate as a way of reducing the amount of ammo- nium converted to ammonia. As ammonia is a pollutant, and los- ing it means having to apply more bagged fertiliser in its place, it’s a project with economic and environ- mental benefi ts.
“My rough scouting suggests
Stephen Temple installed the biogas plant at Copys Green Farm in 2009.
proving dependent on hard frosts over winter to produce a good tilth, and the power harrow is on standby when needed. Whatever he does, Stephen likes there to be fl exibility. Having worked for many years
in Africa, fi rst teaching engineer- ing to agricultural students, then on an energy effi ciency project, and, fi nally, on doctoral research into drying tea, the “make do, mend and modify” culture has rubbed off. Concern for global warming is driving Stephen’s efforts to be as self-suffi cient as possible, and he enjoys welcoming visitors to the farm – most recently, members of Agri-Tech East’s Young Innovators Forum – to encourage others shar- ing these attitudes.
Trials “We’re working on a project with
that we lose up to a quarter of the nitrogen in the digestate into the atmosphere as it comes out of the digester. I think if we can bring down the pH of the digestate – ours is about 7.5 – to 6, we’ll keep a lot more ammonia in solution. “A major cause of greenhouse gas emissions is in the production of nitrogen fertiliser, so that’s why we want to make the best use of our digestate. At the moment we’re buying in about half the quantity of fertiliser we bought before we had the digester. If we can reduce that further, so much the better.” With a chalk stream, the Riv- er Stiffkey, running through the 230ha farm, the original motiva- tion for installing the biogas plant was to contain potential pollut- ants. Being able to measure much more accurately the nutrient val- ue of digestate, a uniform product, than cattle manures, which vary so much, is an added benefi t. In the past four years the dairy herd has undergone a ma- jor change, with Brown Swiss cows completely replacing the Holstein herd. It took a bit of nerve to make the break, says Stephen: his late fa- ther had spent a lot of time build- ing up the herd. In the days when feed was cheap and milk was worth money the Holsteins were a good >>
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JUNE 2017 • ANGLIA FARMER 57
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