Changing broiler dung and dry poultry manure into money
4 September 2024
6 minute learn
Poultry farmers concentrate on the manufacturing of eggs and meat for the patron. Nevertheless, conserving poultry additionally produces residues similar to dry poultry manure and broiler dung. These residues – or wouldn’t it be higher to name them by-products or co-products? – have been shifting additional into the centre of consideration (in Germany) for a while now. The explanation: the vitamins and natural matter they comprise make them more and more invaluable (see Desk 1). It is a welcome growth, particularly for poultry farmers in areas with a excessive density of livestock, as a result of they will flip the unwelcome residues into a beautiful by-product.
Imply nutrient contents of farm-produced fertilisers (recent matter)
Supply: https://www.raiffeisen.com/pfl… (as at 9 August 2024)
| Stable manure | DM content material (%) | N (kg/m³, t) | P₂O₅(kg/m³, t) | K₂O (kg/m³, t) |
| Turkey manure (in tonnes) | 50 | 19,1 | 18,1 | 16,4 |
| Duck manure (in tonnes) | 30 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| Goose manure (in tonnes) | 30 | 8 | 6 | 11 |
| Broiler manure (in tonnes) | 55 | 28 | 21 | 23 |
| Rooster manure (in tonnes) | 30 | 18,1 | 12,5 | 10,4 |
| Rooster manure (in tonnes) | 60 | 29,9 | 22 | 20,2 |
| Poultry manure | ||||
| Recent poultry manure (in tonnes) | 28 | 17 | 11,4 | 10 |
| Dry poultry manure (in tonnes) | 50 | 25,5 | 20,1 | 17,5 |
| Dried poultry manure (in tonnes) | 70 | 32 | 27,7 | 22,8 |
Versatile use
Farmers can utilise their farm-produced manure in quite a lot of methods to contribute to the farm income with extra revenues. The quantity and sustainability of this contribution is basically in their very own fingers. For instance, farmers can use some broiler manure as a invaluable natural fertiliser on their very own farmland. This reduces the prices for mineral fertilisers and will increase the humus content material of their soil.
Farm-produced manure may be very a lot in demand in areas with a low density of livestock: contractors specialising within the commerce and provide of natural fertilisers acquire the manure from areas with a excessive density of livestock and ship it to areas with a low density of livestock. Previously, broiler farmers usually both needed to pay a small amount of cash for this service or handed over their manure with out incomes something.
Struggle on Ukraine
With the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing vitality disaster, costs for mineral fertilisers rose sharply (see Chart 1). On the identical time, dry poultry manure and broiler dung have been out of the blue in excessive demand. Farmers have been usually in a position to promote their manure at excellent costs. Costs have at present calmed down once more. In the long run, they’re prone to stabilise at a barely larger stage than earlier than the vitality disaster.
The EU settlement to cut back greenhouse gasoline emissions by a minimal of 55 per cent by 2030 in comparison with 1990, and to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, performs an necessary function for the query “How a lot are my residues value?”. The EU settlement signifies that the usage of fossil fuels will turn out to be increasingly more costly; by 2050, fossil fuels ought to now not be used in any respect.
Particularly in broiler manufacturing, nonetheless, homes have to be heated to round 33 °C when the day-old chicks are first moved in, which is a really energy-intensive interval. The most typical gas right this moment continues to be pure gasoline. However what can broiler producers do to cut back their vitality prices whereas additionally contributing to climate-neutral manufacturing? There is no such thing as a easy reply to this query contemplating the complexity of the problem.
Environment friendly and sustainable: round economic system
One key phrase for the reply: round economic system. Farmers who function a biogas plant alongside their broiler manufacturing are within the comfy place of having the ability to warmth their poultry homes with the generated waste warmth, they usually may produce electrical energy from the biogas. This reduces the usage of fossil fuels (usually pure gasoline) and allows farmers to utilise poultry manure for their very own sustainable manufacturing of biogas.
The vitamins stay nearly fully within the digestate, which is subsequently properly suited as a fertiliser on arable land and grassland. For the proper dedication of fertiliser necessities, the digestate should all the time be examined for its respective nutrient content material, nonetheless.
Not all broiler producers have a biogas plant – nor have they got to, as a result of they will promote their manure to biogas plant operators. This process has lengthy been frequent in agrarian areas, particularly, and is turning into more and more necessary now. The reason being the rising value for maize, which causes the operators of biogas crops to show in direction of cheaper choices.
As well as, the large-scale cultivation of maize to be used in biogas crops is considered very critically – as a result of the place maize grows, no meals could be grown, in line with the final opinion.
From this viewpoint, the 150 m3 to 200 m3 of biogas per tonne of recent matter from the animal various will not be dangerous in any respect.
Versatile biomethane
And growth continues, with the key phrase being biomethane manufacturing. Along with producing electrical energy from biogas, switching from the earlier on-site energy era to biomethane manufacturing could be an attention-grabbing possibility. This is applicable particularly to bigger crops and to these for which the so-called EEG remuneration expires after 20 years. Based mostly on the German Renewable Power Sources Act, operators of biogas crops obtained this remuneration for feeding electrical energy into the grid.
Biomethane has the nice benefit that it’s chemically an identical to pure gasoline and that it may be fed into the present gasoline grid. Biomethane can thus be used for electrical energy and warmth era in addition to within the gas market.
However what precisely does this imply for the poultry manure? Round 250 crops all through Germany produce biomethane, and the quantity grows on daily basis. These crops may use poultry manure as enter materials, and plant operators are fairly ready to pay for this manure. It could make sense to conclude longer-term contracts.
Conclusion:
The relevance of poultry manure is altering from being thought of an “annoying” residue to being perceived as a invaluable by-product, particularly in areas with a excessive density of livestock. Manure could be unfold on the fields as a conventional fertiliser or be used to supply biogas.
To realize the local weather targets talked about initially, nonetheless, biomethane will turn out to be more and more necessary for the gas sector – significantly when it originates from “residues” similar to poultry manure.
If farmers produce biomethane themselves, both individually or as a gaggle, the greenhouse gasoline (GHG) discount quota signifies that one other side ought to be saved in thoughts: Firms that promote CO2-emitting fuels in Germany, i.e. diesel and petrol, should compensate for the greenhouse gasoline emissions which are produced when these fuels are burned, for instance by shopping for GHG quota shares. Biomethane producers can promote these GHG quota shares to greenhouse gasoline distributors within the gas sector, similar to Shell.
China
Regardless of the various constructive prospects for the home biomethane market, there may be additionally a catch: If massive quantities of biofuel are imported from China after which marketed in Germany, falsely labelled as “climate-friendly” inside the scope of the Renewable Power Directive II (RED II), this doesn’t adjust to the unique intention of this directive.
Many of the Chinese language biofuels don’t come from residues, however are produced from palm oil – and but German petroleum corporations can nonetheless fulfil their obligation to cut back greenhouse gases on this method. Which means that the home biomethane worth chain is now not aggressive, which has a major influence on the revenues generated by poultry manure.
