Farmers are said to be desperate to get their hands on 1500 tonnes of chicken poop which will be produced each year by an expanded egg farm in East Lothian - due to the rising cost of fertiliser.
East Lothian Eggs Ltd has been granted planning permission to build a new 100-metre long poultry shed next to their current facilities at Howden Farm, Gifford, which will double the number of hens on site from 32,000 to 64,000.
And a virtual meeting of the council's planning committee today heard that the waste produced by the birds was already in high demand from local farmers.
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Michael Scott, from the egg company, told members of the committee that the flock would produce 1500 tonnes of manure which would be dried down into around 500 tonnes of chicken 'litter".
He said: "It will be exported to other farms locally. Everyone is desperate for it. The price of man-made fertiliser has gone through the roof and this is probably going to be the next best thing going forward.
"It has actually been a massive help in the area for local farmers to produce a higher yield of crops."
Mr Scott was speaking as councillors were told there had been two written objections to the expansion of the business with concerns over odour, noise and movement of the litter expressed.
Scottish Greens councillor Shona McIntosh called the application in after officers recommended it for approval but said many of her questions had been answered by the applicants.
And council leader Norman Hampshire told the meeting that people who wanted to live in the East Lothian countryside needed to understand it is a "working environment".
He said: "People have to earn a living and produce food we need and there will be noise and smells but that is the nature of things and something people who live there have to accept."
The application for the new poultry shed also included the erection of a building containing an egg packing facility, two x 9m high feeding silos and an
area of hard standing to be used as a car parking area.
Mr Scott told the committee that the company was currently following guidance issued over avian flu and keeping its hens indoors until such time as it was advised they could be allowed out.
The application was unanimously backed by councillors.
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