‘Slurry Bugs’ revolutionise sustainable farming practices

Media Statement

‘Slurry Bugs’ revolutionise sustainable farming practices

With a passion for bacteria and sustainable farming, Liz Russell, managing director of Envirosystems UK, will visit New Zealand next week to speak to the dairy sector about new ways of reusing farm effluents and reducing farmers fertiliser costs by up to two-thirds per year.

Liz Russell has worked in the Dairy Farming industry as a nutritionist for over 30 years and has a passion for using bacteria to enhance efficiency of nutrient retention in both slurry - called effluent here - and silage. Liz says, “With all the challenges that world farming has to face, Slurry Bugs allow farmers to have sustainable farming practices and alleviate the need for expensive chemical fertilisers.”

The Slurry Bug concept is widely used in the UK where it is achieving at least 66% saving of fertiliser costs in the first year of use. Although SlurryBugs are registered with the Organic farmers & Growers Association in the UK, Liz says, “It is an organic product which is just as relevant to an organic and non organic farmer.”

Slurry Bugs is a combination of soil born friendly bacteria and natural enzymes. Treatment of liquid slurry enables today’s progressive dairy industry to achieve the same organic nutrient benefits that previous generations of dairy farmers and pig farmers could do with FYM. Significantly less bought in chemical fertiliser is needed and increased humus, worms and soil organisms are achieved. This leads to higher crops yields which contain improved mineral content and sugars and the land being more resistant to drought and water runoff.

Paul Tuckley, of UK Trade& Investment says, “Over the next 25 years the world will have to double its production of food to meet the requirements of a growing population. To meet these challenges food producers need access to a range of tools to maximize food output from existing land whilst ensuring that the natural environment is protected, conserved and enhanced.”

“Both New Zealand and the United Kingdom are seen as being at the forefront of agricultural biotechnology not only in the field of food security and production but also wider applications in human health, fuels and industrial biotechnology applications.”

ENDS

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