Call for red tape to be cut so farmers can use compost

Scottish farmers are not benefiting as much as they could from the increased availability of compost, and the blame, according to Mike Orr of TEG Environmental, lies with Quality Meat Scotland and its strict rules on red meat assurance.

Under the Farm Assurance scheme, farmers are debarred from using any compost that might contain animal meat products, even if it is tested and proven to be free from potential problems such as heavy metal contamination and pathogen infections.

"In fact, while such compost is banned, livestock producers can bring onto their farm materials such as hen pen, farm yard manure and slurry where there are no checks on the level of pathogens," Orr said.

"It is well known that hen manure often contains salmonella organisms but that seems to be ignored by the double standards to which QMS operate."

Orr claimed that those involved in the compost business have jumped through every hoop to prove there is no risk of contamination and yet there has been no relaxation in the current ban.

Responding to Orr's claims, Uel Morton, the chief executive of QMS, pointed out there was no problem with farmers using "green waste" compost.

However, the issue of compost that contained waste meat was a sensitive one, he claimed. In the light of recent experience where public perception could be very influential, it was important that QMS defended its "precautionary" stance on compost containing meat products.

But Orr insisted: "Everything we produce has to pass the 'public acceptable' standard and this gives assurance on the freedom from pathogens."

Orr added that there was increased production of digestate from the Anaerobic Digestion process, which is now an established part of the recycling industry. While animal waste collected from butchers' shops goes into the AD process as does household food waste, meat- related material never contained fallen stock or Specified Risk Materials, he emphasised.

Orr's company, based in Selkirk, handles some 40,000 tonnes of compost material a year. He said there was a ready potential market for the compost and the digestate, but any QMS member using it risked expulsion from the organisation. Its nutrient value was good and with the increasing cost of artificial fertiliser, it was a very cheap alternative.