@article{Deasy:334521,
      recid = {334521},
      author = {Deasy, Maurice J. and Thorne, Fiona},
      title = {A Bio-Economic Model of producing silage as a feedstock  for Anaerobic Digestion in Ireland},
      address = {2023-03},
      pages = {13},
      year = {2023},
      abstract = {The economic case for the production of silage for  Anaerobic Digestion (AD) can only be established by  analysis of the potential costs and returns at farm level.  This paper uses farm level data from Ireland in a  bio-economic modelling framework to provide total costs per  hectare and per tonne for production of silage for an off  farm AD facility. Whilst perennial rye grass has  traditionally been the sward of choice for livestock  farmers in Ireland, the economics of a multi-cut nitrogen  fixing crop such as red clover has been relatively unknown.  The results from the simulated bio-economic model show that  the total costs of production silage for AD has increased  significantly in the past twenty four months. The modelled  cost of Red-Clover based silage fertilised with digestate  has increased from €29.35 to €43.68 per ton between  2018-2020 to 2022, an increase of 49%. The results also  highlight the importance of accounting for the opportunity  cost of nutrient content of digestate which increased from  €370 to €907 between 2018-2020 and 2022. Furthermore, a 17%  cost saving can be made while reducing overall GHG  emissions by utilising digestate in a separate farm  enterprise.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/334521},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.334521},
}