Smithfield Foods partners with Anuvia Plant Nutrients to create bio-based fertilizer

Smithfield Foods Inc., Smithfield, Virginia, and Anuvia Plant Nutrients, a producer of bio-based plant nutrition products headquartered in Zellwood, Florida, have announced a new partnership to create fertilizer from renewable biological materials collected from manure treatment systems at Smithfield’s hog farms. This project is part of Smithfield Renewables, the company’s new platform dedicated to unifying and accelerating its carbon reduction and renewable energy efforts.

The project reuses organic matter found in hog manure to create a commercial-grade fertilizer. Farmers can better manage nutrient ratios while using less fertilizer by applying precisely what they need for optimal plant growth, the companies say. According to Anuvia, its products contain organic matter designed to release nutrients in a more controlled manner, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions and a smaller environmental footprint.

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

Company-owned and contract hog farms in North Carolina will participate in this project. Smithfield will collect and begin the process by dewatering the waste solids before providing the remnants to Anuvia. Once acquired, Anuvia will pick up and transport the material to its processing plant to create the fertilizer.

“Through Smithfield Renewables, we are aggressively pursuing opportunities to reduce our environmental footprint while creating value,” Kraig Westerbeek, senior director of Smithfield Renewables, says. “Along with projects that transform biogas into renewable natural gas, this is another example of how we are tackling this goal on our hog farms.”

“This is the beginning of a partnership based on a shared vision that will positively impact livestock and crop production,” Amy Yoder, Anuvia Plant Nutrients CEO, says. “Our proprietary manufacturing process which converts organic waste into novel bio-based plant nutrients is both environmentally friendly and sustainable. Our products reduce leaching and put organic matter back in the soil. Our process is a prototype for a circular economy as we reclaim organic waste, convert and reuse on cropland. This relationship provides a new sustainable way for Smithfield to return its remnant solids back to the land for use on the crops grown to feed the hogs. The impact of this is extremely significant for hog production and the livestock industry. We look forward to helping achieve both Smithfield’s and Anuvia’s environmental goals.”