Exploring a strategy for managing on-farm surplus nutrients: aiming for mutual benefits to dairy farmers and the environment

Abstract

In this thesis, the problem of surplus nutrients from dairy farming and food waste was investigated and the potential of an enterprise based around using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to process dairy manure and food waste was considered as a means of mitigating part of this problem whilst promoting additional environmental improvements and benefiting other stakeholders, particularly dairy farmers. A transdisciplinary approach with a pragmatic action research methodology was employed due to the wicked nature of this problem. This approach provided the flexibility to follow up insights and explore the problem and potential innovation in depth and width