Fertiliser scheme close to fruition

Press, 6 September 1980, Page 1

Fertiliser scheme close to fruition

' j Nelson reporter A sty full of Canterbury pigs provided the clue which set a Nelson man on a fertiliser venture that is likely to have world* wide repercussions. ; Bark Products (Nelson), Ltd,/will start marketing this product next week after five years of research and trial. The beauty of the fertiliser is that all its ingredients are waste products — bark from the thousands of pine logs '' skinned in Nelson each year, and fish waste from the factories of New Zealand’s biggest fishing port. The venture began when Mr Stewart Meyer sold his Canterbury farm and began to show a greater interest in horticulture. Recognising the need for a

ready-made potting mix, he turned to peat as its base. However, after a discussion with Mr M. Marcusson, horticulture adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, he decided to start his experiment with pulverised pine bark as a peat substitute. His initial experiments confirmed that bark was indeed an excellent substitute, and various amounts were sent to nurseries in Canterbury for practical experiments. While waiting for t n e results, Mr Meyer thought of using the bark for various animal husbandry purposes, and the bark was distributed to farms — one of which was a pig farm. Because of die known warmth that it produced, the bark was laid as a bed in the pigs’ sty.

“The first . reactions came within 24 hours,” Mr Meyer said. The farmer rang to say that the bark had absorbed, completely the odours of the pigs’ waste products. .

“What had happened was that the bark had broken down the ammonia in these products, and extracted the nitrogen, and this led to the practical application we have today,” he said. The expanding horticultural industry in the Nelson district, and the ready availability of bark waste in the province, brought Mr Meyer to Nelson. He joined the Forest Service and spent 15 months researching uses for the bark, which comprises between 12 per cent and .15 per cent of the total product. .

On leaving the Forest Service he continued studying the use of fish waste as a mixture with bark, reasoning that if bark broke down the ammonia content in the animal wastes, it would do the same with fish. His experiments were remarkably successful, and he cohtinued 'his research with the aid of a grant from the Fishing Industry Development Fund Committee. He is now satisfied that what he' has been able to accomplish withfish waste could be accomplished with any animal waste —- from freez-ing-works waste to sewage. ' The company — comprising himself,. Mr Brian Kidson, Mr Hilary Young, of the Nelson Steel-Fixing Services, and a Nelson so-

licitor, Mr B. R. Smythe — immediately had the blessing of the Nelson City Council. For years the council has been plagued by the distribution of fish waste dumped at the tip, and by the thousands of gulls which never leave the area. The waste has been dropped over nearby drawing rats and creating a very real nuisance. The- council was almost . at wits’ end to know how to deal with the problem when Mr Meyer sought its help in finding cleared land at the tip. A special Jiammermill was designed and made. This chops the bark brought to the tip into very small segments. The bark is laid in. windrows and mixed at a specific ratio with the , fish’waste

from the fish-processing factories. Within eight weeks the heat of the bark has broken down the fish into a fish-bark fertiliser that horticulturists in Nelson are already ordering in big quantities. It has no smell. Mr Meyer said he knew that the process was a world first. He has taken out patents in six countries.. ■ . ■ . ... .. He does not intend to rest on his laurels. He knows that a particularly high liquid pollutant from the fish-meal processing plant at the factory of Sealords, Ltd, is affecting the city’s oxidation ponds, and now plans an additional research programme — again with a grant from the Fishing Industry Development Fund — on this liquid pollutant.