The Development of Slurry Acidification – in retrospect

1999
Inventor Jens Østergård and pig farmer Christian Kjær agree that the difference between the nitrogen content of pig slurry in the pig barn and when spread on the fields is too great.
They discover that it is possible to change ammonia (NH3), which is a gas, into ammonium (NH4+), which is a salt. Therefore, it should not be able to evaporate.
They carry out experiments involving pig slurry and various chemicals, and during the process discover that sulphuric acid is ideal for converting the slurry’s NH3 content into NH4+, which stops ammonia from evaporating.
At this time, they did not know that legislation would be passed requiring a reduction in the evaporation of ammonia from livestock farming, but it has been proven that this technology is exceptionally well-suited for this purpose.

2003
Jens Østergård and Christian Kjær get their NH4+ slurry acidification process patented. They have now made enough progress to produce a full-scale system for further testing and sales.

2004
They enter into collaboration with four companies to further develop, produce and market slurry acidification:
Grundfos (global leader on the pump-solutions market), Staring Maskinfabrik (supplier of equipment to the construction industry in north Denmark), Stiholt (distributor of Scania lorries in north Denmark) and Agro Invest Nord. The business is operated from the premises of Staring Maskinfabrik in Brønderslev, under the name “Staring Miljø”.
The EU Water Framework Directive requires that the discharge of nitrogen to aquatic environments be reduced and, to comply with this directive, Denmark adopts legislation which means that fields may only be fertilised with up to 85% of the maximum application of nitrogen for the individual crop.
This is where the full benefit of slurry acidification comes to the fore, as annual fertilisation plans calculate the amount of nitrogen based on the volume of nitrogen produced by each animal, not on the slurry’s nitrogen content when it is spread in the field. As acidifying the slurry prevents evaporation, this makes it possible to maximise the fertilisation effect and the application of sulphur to the crops.

2006
As the name “Staring Miljø” proves to be a difficult to use going forward, the name is changed to “Infarm”.

2007
Grundfos buys out the three other co-owners, as Stiholt wants to withdraw from the ownership. Grundfos wants to explore new business areas in its newly established division, Grundfos New Business, and it decides to relocate the company from Brønderslev to Aalborg.Grundfos makes Infarm an autonomous company with its own management and board, which starts up the development of SmellFighter. Quite a number of new employees are hired in newly created positions.

2009
Infarm is hard hit by the financial crisis, prompting a reduction in number of employees. At the same time, the company moves to a different location in Aalborg.

2010
JH Staldservice launches its slurry-acidification solution under the brand name “JH Forsuring NH4+”. This means that there are now two slurry acidification solutions on the market, and the new product from JH Staldservice is well received, not least because the solution is competitively priced.

2011
Grundfos decides that Infarm will no longer be part of its strategic action area, and accordingly puts Infarm up for sale. This leads to the takeover of Infarm by five managerial staff. The Danish Parliament adopts legislation requiring a reduction in ammonia emissions from livestock farming and that the technologies used to accomplish this be tested to be able to document the reduction effect. Denmark enters into an agreement with Germany and the Netherlands concerning testing certification, which is named VERA. Infarm and JH Staldservice have their slurry acidification systems tested pursuant to the VERA standards and they are included on an official Best Available Technology (BAT) list. The official VERA certification process drags on for several years, however, and certification is not issued until 2015/2016.

2012
The five employees take over Infarm on 1 January and continue to run the business from Aalborg.

2013
Infarm decides to relocate the company’s activities to the town of Støvring, not far from Aalborg.

2015
Infarm’s owners sell the company to JH Staldservice A/S in Holstebro. The previous owners and employees remain in the company.
JH Staldservice decides to set up Infarm as an autonomous company named JH Agro A/S, in which the slurry acidification products and activities are gathered. The company is still run from Støvring.

2016
When a number of the previous Infarm owners and employees leave the company, the management of JH Staldservice A/S decides to relocate all JH Agro A/S activities to Holstebro. The Støvring facilities are sold at this time.Taking over Infarm squeezes JH Staldservice’s liquidity, and when investments by Danish agri-businesses in environmental technology slow down at the same time, JH Staldservice and the two subsidiaries JH Agro and JH Bioenergi enter into bankruptcy.

2016/2017
Gert and Rasmus Normann Andersen (father and son) take over JH Staldservice, JH Agro and JH Bioenergi through their investment company Blaakjær Finans.
The new owners see great potential in slurry acidification, both in Denmark and abroad, and they earmark funds to further develop the JH Forsuring NH4+ product and invest in transforming the small local business into a big multinational company.

2018
The company changes its name from JH Staldservice to JH Agro. This reflects the shift of focus to export markets and the great potential of JH Forsuring NH4+. In the summer of 2018, JH Agro makes a decisive breakthrough on the UK market.

2019
Sales of JH Forsuring NH4+ have rocketed in the UK, and the demand on the domestic Danish market is once again on the rise. The company works intensely to develop new slurry acidification options. Livestock farmers have invested in slurry acidification over the years, in part to reduce ammonia emissions from the entire production process but also to reap some of the many operational and financial benefits inherent in slurry acidification. Today, slurry acidification is the only technology capable of reducing ammonia evaporation in livestock housing environments, storage tanks and field spreading. This is why the technology is frequently brought into play when setting up new, modern livestock housing facilities which need to consider both the farmer’s profitability and the overall environmental and climate footprint.