Source: MEATINGPLACE, 4/6/18

Smithfield Foods Inc., the world's largest pork processor and hog producer, and Anuvia Plant Nutrients announced a partnership to create sustainable fertilizer from renewable biological materials collected from manure treatment systems at Smithfield’s hog farms.

The project is part of Smithfield Renewables, the company’s new platform dedicated to unifying and accelerating its carbon reduction and renewable energy efforts.

The product is intended to help farmers better manage nutrient ratios while using less fertilizer by applying the precise amount needed. The project reuses organic matter found in hog manure to create a commercial-grade fertilizer that is higher in nutrient concentration than the original organic materials. Nutrient release is more controlled, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a smaller environmental footprint.

Anuvia will utilize remnant solids from Smithfield that accumulate over time at the bottom of anaerobic lagoons, basins designed to treat and store the manure on hog farms. Anuvia will manufacture and sell the commercial-grade fertilizer products to farmers nationwide.

Company-owned and contract hog farms in North Carolina will participate in the project.

Smithfield will begin the process by collecting and de-watering the waste solids before providing the remnants to Anuvia. Anuvia will pick up and transport the material to its processing plant to create the fertilizer.

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