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The Irish Lighthouse demonstration

28/11/2024

Teagasc established a grassland sister trial to an arable trial and is in its 5th year. The purpose of the demonstration trial is to assess agronomic benefits of different bio-based recycled derived fertilisers at a field-scale level.

The primary goal is to determine how these fertilisers can enhance soil fertility by increasing carbon and major nutrient levels in the soil. Progress is being monitored by analysing crop yield and quality. The aim of this lighthoue demonstration is to promote nutrient recovery and recycling from different agri-food processing waste resources. Additionally, the focus is on helping farmers understand and adopt these bio-based recycled fertilisers as options for their own grassland and arable system.

The grassland trial site is used within the Irish Novafert lighthouse demonstration to test the efficacy of several parameters such as grass yield, soil fertility, soil organic matter, and soil biology indicators. Products are also demonstrated at large scale application on the Teagasc beef and dairy farm in Teagasc Johnstown castle and demonstration tillage farms.

Large scale demonstration is used as part of the Lighthouse demonstration to test the practicalities such as fertiliser spreader calibration for applying different types of products with standard machinery that is already available on Irish farms. From this type of demonstration, we know their efficacy in a controlled environment and can capture any difficulties that may arise when used at large scale. This type of information is disseminated to farmers as a support tool that are interested in adapting the use of these novel fertilisers on their own farms.

To date, five farmer-focused groups has visited the lighthouse demonstration trial at Teagasc Johnstown Castle. Of the five groups, two were large-scale open days to the public attracting over 1,000 attendees on the day mainly comprising of farmers but also other stakeholders such as researchers, advisors, policy makers, industry and consumers. Three of the group visits comprised of small focused groups of farmers and University students studying agricultural science.