A young West Limerick businessperson is looking forward to a rewarding 2023, after being named amongst the Sunday Independent’s Top 30 Under 30 at Christmas.
Kilcornan’s Marion Cantillon, aged 24, is an agtech innovator and created Pitseal, an edible biofilm to cover silage pits that are currently covered with plastic sheeting and waste tyres.
The spray-on solution forms a matrix on the top layer of grass in the pit that seals – and it can support a farmer’s weight. It is made from a seaweed combination that reduces methane levels in cattle after consumption.
“During winter, cows eat the film as part of their silage feed, resulting in a no-waste silage procedure,” Marion explained.
At UCC she investigated the impact edible food packaging was having in retail, reducing single-use plastics.
“When my uncle slipped on wet plastic and broke his leg, it prompted me to consider developing a better solution for covering silage pits that would reduce plastic and emissions.”
Added Marion: “I always had doubts with the silage process, but I didn’t understand how gruelling it was when you have high winds, and you have to go up and fix it and fix tyres. I think when I saw the actual heartache they go through I wanted to see if I could implement something that could make life easier.”
She is also developing a similar solution to wrap bales and has received a great deal of interest from farms in New Zealand and the United States.
Marion added: “When I was in college, I probably kind of thought of it [farming] more of a chore and it wasn’t until I got into my later years of college that I looked at the sustainability side of it and actually started getting more conscious about farming practices and their impact globally.”