Facility to advance UK insect farming
A new cutting-edge insect farm at University of Leeds was officially unveiled at a launch event last week.
Over 40 stakeholders from industry and academia met at the National Pig Centre on Wednesday 3rd July to learn more about the facility and the projects already underway, such as InSAFE and DELIVER, as well as to discuss ideas for future research collaborations.
In addition to a series of presentations, delegates were also given a walk-in tour of the unit to discover how its innovative mechanisms work.
The installation of this new, cutting-edge prototype will help us explore the role of insect farming in sustainable food systems.
Caption: Dr Gesa Reiss presents at the event
The facility, a 40ft walk-in, containerised unit fitted with an environmental control system and wi-fi data monitoring, enables insect bioconversion, the process of insects eating and upcycling organic matter into higher-value products such as protein, oils and fertilizer, at commercial scale.
Offering a sophisticated mixing system to accommodate a range of feedstocks (such as food waste or slurries), and an insect rearing and harvesting area, the unit can convert around 1,000 litres of feedstock (the equivalent of 3.5 standard bath tubs) into 100kg of wet black soldier fly larvae over a period of 15-20 days, depending on the nutrient and moisture content of the feedstock, by carefully monitoring the environmental conditions.
Caption: inside the unit
Funded by UKRI-BBSRC, and developed by technology company Entocycle, the insect unit will support the University’s current research covering industry health and safety protocols, on-farm integration of energy and bioconversion technology, and insect welfare using black solider fly.
There is growing excitement about the insect farming industry as it requires significantly less resources, such as land and water, compared to the production of traditional livestock feed ingredients. But there is still a lot we don’t know about insect farming and our new insect farm will help to find these answers.
Caption: Attendees look at trays of black solider fly and feedstock inside the unit
Enabling research impact
The UK insect farming industry is currently constrained by strict legislation on the use of insect protein in animal feed and a lack of protocols and standards for insect-rearing facilities. Furthermore, current UK and EU legislation prohibits the use of livestock manure and slurry as a feedstock for insects.
Through InSAFE, researchers will rear insects and analyse frass (left-over feedstock and insect poop) samples to understand the bacterial microbiome, pathogen loads, presence of anti-microbial genes, and heavy metal content to see if they pose any risk to human health.
It’s a really exciting time for our company; we’re delighted to be working with forward-thinking institutions like The University of Leeds and delivering real-world engineering projects such as this at the National Pig Centre.
Through the DELIVER project, the insect unit will be utilised to explore how insect farming could be integrated into energy generation on livestock farms.
Led by decarbonisation consultancy, BACB Renewables, academics at the University of Leeds are assessing the feasibility of integrating technologies such as solar, battery, heat pumps, anaerobic digesters and insect farms, to explore viable commercial opportunities in energy generation and waste valorisation. This could potentially develop new income avenues for farmers.
