A big problem in the Baltic Sea and in many other waterways is eutrophication, which is due to too high levels of nutrients in water. Eutrophication leads to algae and vast areas suffering from oxygen depletion; conditions that feed off each other and make the situation worse. A significant portion of nutrients in waterways is generated by agriculture, particularly large meat production facilities.

The best way to prevent the nutrients from ending up in waterways is to cycle them.

The best way to prevent the nutrients from ending up in waterways is to cycle them. In agriculture, this means that the manure of beef cattle is utilised efficiently as fertiliser to heal the soil’s structure so that it will retain nutrients for plants in the most effective way instead of the nutrients being washed away to waterways or evaporating into air.

In healthy soil, water resources and nutrients work in harmony. This kind of soil is best at sequestering carbon, which improves water resources and creates prerequisites for appropriate biological activity. This is a basic requirement for the cycling of nutrients that exist in the soil.

Phosphorus is a limited natural resource and the industrial production of nitrogen uses a lot of energy. Why should we bring new virgin fertilisers into the system when we can get the same nutrients through cycling, while solving environmental problems as well as improving the domestic trade balance and security of supply?

At Qvidja, manure and other by-products are utilised for energy and as fertilisers. The soil’s structure is healed so that it will retain nutrients for plants in the most effective way instead of the nutrients being washed away to waterways or evaporating into air.

The cycling of nutrients is so important for the Baltic Sea, food production and carbon sequestration, that we co-founded a company called Soilfood, which provides solutions for improving crop yields and the profitability of farming as well as helps to decrease the nutrient and carbon losses generated by farming.