In the Netherlands, the newspapers are currently full again about the current government's manure plans. Yes, we have overflowing manure basements and sky-high manure disposal costs. Fewer farmers, therefore less manure as a solution direction versus the fact more people, therefore more food needed, does not seem to be directly balanced.
At the Insect School in America (municipality of Horst a/d Maas), therefore, the idea arose that a new sector like insect farming could possibly help an existing sector like pig farming. How much pig manure can a black soldier fly larvae handle? This is a question for the future because currently legislation does not technically allow feeding manure to animals, including insects. Then again the question arises, what was the chicken or the egg first? To break that trend, a grant application was made and awarded, to demonstrate the possibilities of processing wet pig manure with the soldier fly.
December 3 and 4, the Insect School is hosting an open day (registration required) to present those results. The approach is to show what (financial) benefits the soldier fly offers to the pig farmer. Because if you can suddenly upcycle your manure through the soldier fly, that will mean a significant decrease in manure disposal costs. A tip of the hat, this can be done just fine! We will be happy to tell you the details during the 2 open days.
We invite you to our open day December 3 or 4 where you will learn how Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSF) can upcycle agricultural pig manure!