INNOVATIVE FARMERS - Evaluating bokashi manure treatment

Many people may have used a bokashi bin for their kitchen waste, but bokashi micro-organisms are now being used to help break down animal bedding and dung. A new field lab in Scotland is investigating.

The bokashi field lab, which involves treating manure with microorganisms that help to break down animal bedding and dung, got under way in May 2023.

One of the two trial sites is Glen Fincastle, where farmer Andrew Barbour has now removed the bokashi and non- bokashi manures from the cattle housing. Andrew wants to find a way of minimising nutrient loss from housed manure and to reduce methane and ammonia emissions from the farm and bokashi may help him achieve this. Another motivating factor was finding a good alternative to straw and wanting to feed the biology in his fields and improve soil productivity.