Holistic decision-support system for organic slurry storage and treatment techniques for maximum nutrient use efficiencies (SLURRY-MAX)

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Livestock slurry is a valuable source of nutrients but is not always used efficiently in the agricultural sector in the UK, largely as a result of inadequate infrastructure, land use constraints, differences in soil types and climate, and a lack of integrated planning with inorganic fertiliser use. Better management of slurry which values its potential to meet crop demands for nutrients, or as an energy resource for anaerobic digestion (AD), whilst minimising its negative impacts on land and water quality is necessary to ensure a resilient and sustainable agricultural system, meeting both economic and environmental needs. Despite a considerable amount of knowledge and practical know-how about slurry storage and use, much of it targeted directly at farmers, slurry management on many farms continues to be ad-hoc and sub-optimal in economic, environmental and social terms.This project aims to pool together available knowledge on slurry management and use, with expertise about how science can be effectively translated, to improve the effectiveness of slurry produced on beef farms as a nutrient source and reduce its negative environmental impacts. It will do this by reviewing the current tools available to farmers for slurry management in the devolved countries and elsewhere in Europe. It will then explore (with both current and future beef famers and arable farmers) how they access and use information about the nutrient value of slurries produced (or potentially used) on their farms and how to best manage them. By working with farmers to understand the key knowledge gaps, environmental, cultural and other factors which affect their decision making around slurry management/use we will identify approaches which influence their decision making towards maximising the value of slurry enabling them to make the most of the information available to them. We will also identify the off-farm infrastructural constraints that connect to on-farm practices and currently impede optimal use of slurry.The outputs of the research (a. information design projects in collaboration with existing tool experts and providers (ADAS); b. incorporation of aspects of social understanding and innovation (e.g. farmer-to-farmer cooperation) into existing tools; c. knowledge production and knowledge exchange with policy around infrastructural innovation for slurry beyond the farm gate) have clear potential applications and benefits. The applications will be primarily relevant for farm level management of nutrients. The research will help enable beef farmers to optimise the nutrient benefits of their slurry to maximise production (of grass and livestock) from their farms and potentially to benefit economically from the export of excess nutrients to arable farms or anaerobic digesters (AD). We would also hope to positively influence the potential for arable farmers to benefit from the export of excess nutrients from beef farms through enhanced production of crops. Finally we hope to discuss with policy and institutional bodies of the off-farm infrastructural constraints that impede optimal use of slurry and to think through off-farm innovations that may be needed to support the on-farm innovations of farmers.Optimising the use of slurry as a nutrient source on land and reducing the potential loss of nutrients from land due to inappropriate use of slurry will be of significant environmental benefit for land, water and air quality. This will result in significant benefits for both private and public sectors beyond farmers, for example, through decreased costs of water treatment and improved environmental quality for users of the rural environment including tourists, rural dwellers and fishermen.