Composted lawn clippings and other garden waste are to be used to grow hundreds of acres of organic cereals at two Pembrokeshire farms.
Organic producers Matthew Miles and Peter Storrow will spread the composted green waste on 210hectares of cereals at Llanstinian Home Farm, Letterston, and Rodgeston Farm, Simpson Cross.
PMR Direct, the trading division of the Pembrokeshire Machinery Ring, secured a two-year contract with Pembrokeshire County Council to compost the green waste from its five civic amenity sites.
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The partnership approach means both sites can avoid full waste management licensing and operate under exemptions by sharing the total quantity.
About 5,000 tons a year will be composted and will be applied at a rate of 30tons a hectare.
Neil Davies, manager for PMR Direct, says it is within the interests of everyone involved in the project to produce the best possible compost to benefit fertility on both farms, and to retain their organic status.
"Both farmers already have composting experience through existing established composting projects for farm manure wastes," says Mr Davies.
"The end compost product will become an integrated component of the farming systems employed on each site."
Using a static aerated pile composting system, the farms will work on a 12-14 week compost cycle. The sites will handle up to 600 tonnes at any one time.
This will give each site a working capacity of about 2,600 tonnes of shredded green waste a year.
There will also be an additional potential capacity to provide a buffer of feedstock of up to 600 tonnes of green waste on each farm.
Compost is seen as a means of retaining moisture in the soil and provides crucial, slow release nutrients to crops, leading to long term yield increases.
Importantly, using compost made from recycled resources is sustainable and can increase soil organic matter and water holding capacity, says Neil Davies.
"The long term use of compost in agriculture leads to a reduction in the use of inorganic fertilisers, which helps to reduce the use of fossil fuels used in the manufacturing of inorganic fertiliser and therefore reduces carbon emissions," Mr Davies added.
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