After years of piling up the grape marc, which at its peak weighed more than 80,000 tonnes, Tarac Technologies has decided to offer it free of charge to farmers for stock feed or soil conditioner.

The business has collected marc from wineries for nearly half a century, fermenting it in giant tanks, removing the ethanol and selling it back to wineries for fortifying.

But what remains after the fermentation process has created a growing environmental problem for Tarac.

“After the drought broke, everyone had feed on the ground and they didn’t need our marc so it’s just been banking up,” Tarac Technologies Griffith site supervisor Scott Blenkiron said.

“We were left with 80,000 tonnes of it at the end of the 2012 vintage after Tabbita Feedlot closed and so we’ve decided to offer it free of charge to farmers.”

Tarac has even offered to load it onto farmers’ vehicles at no cost.

Booligal cattle farmer Sandra Ireson said the marc would provide “good roughage” during drought-feeding periods.

“Unfortunately there’s not a huge need for it at the moment because it’s rained and there’s heaps of grass,” Mrs Ireson said.

“But it’s a nice gesture.”

The marc can also be used for gardening mulch.

To enquire about collecting the free marc, call Tarac Technologies on 6963 5360.