New growers

As Future Biogas rolls-out our ambitious plans to supply subsidy-free biomethane to a wide range of customers our approach to farming and the sustainability of our suppliers needs to adapt.

We believe that bio-energy crops can be integrated into a farming rotation as a critical (/important) part of a more sustainable, or indeed regenerative approach to agriculture.

Suppliers to our new AD plants will be incentivised to adopt sustainable farming practices with four key aims in mind.

• Improving soil health - “Effective management and enhancement of the chemical, physical and biological processes within the soil resulting in a balanced and stable soil ecosystem.”

• Increasing biodiversity - “Enhancing biodiversity within the farmed environment.”

• Reducing inputs - “A measured reduction in crop inputs e.g. Plant Protection Products, Fertiliser and Fuel.”

• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions from fertilisation activities - “Steps to reduce emissions of GHGs, particularly nitrous oxide (N2O), where practical”

Bio-energy crops bring a range of benefits to the farmers who supply them.

Farmers can mitigate the risks associated with modern day agriculture and build a more resilient business diversifying the crops they grow and the income that they rely on from these crops.

Agronomically, bio-energy crops are attractive, allowing for a more diverse crop rotation and allowing for more effective cultural controls of problematic weeds, pests, and diseases whilst simultaneously reducing inputs.

Arable farmers are essentially selling carbon and nutrients off the farm when they sell grain/straw. In order to do this, and maintain crop yield and soil organic carbon, farmers must import sources of carbon (organic matter) generally in manures, or use artificial fertiliser to maintain crop yields. The use of artificial fertiliser is likely to become more challenging and manures in higher demand when farmers look to transition to “Net Zero”

With this in mind there are some key differences between traditional arable cropping and growing crops for anaerobic digestion. When a farmer supplies one of our sites with crop feedstock, they are also entitled to receive solid and liquid digestate, this is an organic fertiliser than can be used to directly displace the use of artificial fertiliser, and can help in building soil organic carbon.

All of our digestate is mechanically separated, this means we have two useful fractions; liquid and solid.

Liquid Digestate is ~5% dry matter and can be applied to a wide range of crops. Generally it is applied using a contractor either injecting or using a dribble bar to reduce ammonia emissions. Liquid digestate contains a readily available nitrogen content above 30% and therefore is subject to NVZ closed period restrictions. Liquid digestate is only valuable to farmers at time of maximum benefit to the crop whilst this time of maximum benefit does of course vary between crops we have invested heavily in liquid digestate storage and we intend to have 9 months of liquid digestate storage across all of our new build sites.

Solid Digestate is ~23-25% dry matter and like liquid can be applied to a wide range of crops. Most of our growers apply it prior to planting and incorporate it into the soil. Solid digestate contains less nitrogen than liquid but still contains useful quantities of N, P & K. It is most useful as a soil conditioner and will help to improve SOC content and CEC on light soils whilst aiding water infiltration and fryability of heavy soils.

Both liquid and solid digestate contain enough nitrogen, phosphate and potash to make their application cost neutral to farmers at a reasonable distance from our sites.

Digestates from our AD plants are fully recovered fertilisers from crop based feedstocks and as such are exempt from pasteurisation, permitting and can even be used by organic farmers (if prior approval is sought from their certification body).

We see our relationships with growers as a partnership. Many of our feedstock suppliers have continued to grow crops for us since our sites were built. Our feedstock team become a trusted source of advice alongside agronomists and land agents helping growers with their approach towards a wide range of topics such as reducing fertiliser, embracing stewardship or SFI and much more.

In order for our AD plants to thrive we need the farming businesses that provide us with feedstock to do the same. Our feedstock team approach any conversation with our suppliers with the technical and commercial experience needed to ensure our crop feedstocks remain a vital part of the farming rotation. We understand that our approach to feedstock supply needs to remain agile to suit the needs of modern farming businesses and therefore we offer contracts from 5-15 years for any new suppliers with our pricing structure taking into account key input pricing including fertiliser, labour & machinery and other crop inputs.

Another critical element of the successful operation of our sites is the partnerships we form with agricultural contractors all of whom we have developed relationships with over several years. Our commitment to our contractors allows them to invest in the best technology available.