Produced by WRAP and free to use, ‘Using digestate as a renewable fertiliser’ provides practical advice for farmers and agronomists on how to maximise the supply of nutrients to crops, and how this can be balanced with standard fertilisers.

The video sets out how including digestate in nutrient management plans can increase the potential to grow healthy crops, provides advice on cost management and tips on application timings and techniques.

The video includes a tour of an anaerobic digestion plant showing the technology used to convert organic materials, including food waste, into a reliable renewable fertiliser. It outlines the benefits of using digestate which is rich in readily available nitrogen, as well as containing phosphate, potash, sulphur, magnesium and trace elements.

Ian Wardle, Head of Organics Programme WRAP said, “The potential benefits of using anaerobic digestate as a renewable fertiliser are significant. WRAP field experiments found that crop yields were greater when grown using a combination of anaerobic digestate and fertiliser, than for crops grown using standard fertilisers alone. Combined with the fertiliser savings, the increased yields could deliver an additional £300 per hectare. This video is a great way to find out more about using digestate, and shows how easy it is to use.”

David Clarke, Red Tractor Chief Executive said, “We welcome the development of this WRAP video highlighting best practice to farmers who may use anaerobic digestate as a biofertiliser. Our farm assurance standards require farmers to ensure that organic materials are applied to land in a way that minimises the risk of contamination or pollution and this video will help them understand more about how to apply digestate appropriately.”