Composting goes commercial
Ridgetown researchers have been surprised by composting's ability to reduce pig manure odour
By TOM BUTTON
A new composting process is going commercial after successively taking the smell out of liquid swine manure and producing a nutrient-rich soil treatment during six months of testing at Ridgetown College."We've had very good odour control," says research-er Ron Fleming. "We apply the manure and work it in right away and five minutes later you really can't smell that there was fresh manure put on.
"That may be incredible to believe," he says. "It really has surprised us."
Plus, the system is producing a concentrated, high-nutrient soil additive, Fleming adds. In current tests, the Ridgetown crew are adding five to eight kgs of manure per kg of straw, and they're producing compost that saves virtually all the nitrogen from the manure by binding it with carbon from the straw. In liquid systems, nitrogen is lost as ammonia gas.
Global Earth Products president Tom Smith says he's seen enough to know that composting will work under commercial conditions. "Our order book is open," says the former Ontario pork board chairman from Utopia.
For a 300-sow farrow-to-finish operation producing 1.6 million gallons of manure per year, the cost would be about $160,000, a figure that Fleming believes is competitive with major liquid systems, with the added bonus of an odourless product.
Major costs would include three 80- foot long, side-by-side, 12- X 6-foot channels where the manure would be combined with straw or wood chips for composting. Also needed are a fabric-type building to keep weather off the compost, and a Marvel turner to walk down the rows and mix the manure and straw. Cost for the turner, with controls and wiring included, is about $100,000.
Fleming says labour costs for automated systems will be only marginally higher than for current liquid storage and application systems. For many growers, a more significant consideration is the cost of the straw or wood chips that provide the carbon source.
In a typical test in the eight-foot wide by 50-foot long channels at Ridgetown, re-searchers mixed 6,250 litres of manure with 69 cubic metres of straw (nine big round bales) and ended up four weeks later with four cubic metres of compost. The volume of the final compost was 50 per cent smaller than the volume of the liquid manure going into the process.
Fleming thinks farmers could run the composter year round. Farmers would need 30-day storage capacity to be sure they had adequate supply to keep the system running.
"I think there's an opportunity for composting to completely replace liquid manure handling on many farms," Fleming says.
Smith's company is building a market for the pelleted compost, which it calls Utopia Gold and touts as an organic fertilizer. "We think this will add dollars to the farm, rather than be a cost to the farmer," says Smith.
At a recent open house at Ridgetown College, there was more TV, radio and newspaper coverage than for almost any other farm event in recent years.
Smith welcomes the interest. "The public has been seeing all the negative side of what's happening with agriculture," he says. "It's time for them to see the positives, too."
Some manure protesters say, however, that it's much too early to claim victory. "If this is their high-tech solution, we're all in trouble," says John McCredie of Morpeth, who vigourously opposes current manure management practices at nearby Great Lakes Swine.
McCredie is angry over the release of preliminary results only six months into the three-year project. The fact that Smith was invited gives the program the appearance of a business development project, not research, he says.
McCredie says composting will be too expensive, and he's not sure it would work anyway. "There's no proof."
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Results of the recent Alberta pork producer plebiscite on the future of their industry will remain a mystery. The vote to decide whether to continue with open marketing or return to single-desk selling required a 30-per cent turnout of producers and representation from 60 per cent of the province's production before ballots could be counted.But even though not enough producers voted to meet minimum requirements, open marketing will carry on, says Paul Hodgman, manager Alberta Pork, who reveals the votes "were very close on both." He says Alberta Pork, which has on an interim basis been handling universal services such as promotion and environmental issues, will now be formally split from the Western Hog Exchange.
According to insiders, the exchange has been selling 65 to 70 per cent of the province's hogs since open marketing was declared. Officials won't reveal actual numbers because the exchange competes with a variety of licensed buyers, including auctions, truckers, private assemblers and packers. "It's just something we keep to ourselves," says Mack Rennie, the exchange's marketing and finance manager.
All buyers submit a $1 per pig levy to fund Alberta Pork. Collection of levies is one of the concerns expressed by those opposing open marketing in Ontario.
"Overall we've had pretty good success," maintains Rennie, who until a formal split is carried out also works for Alberta Pork. "Last year there were about 2.7 million hogs marketed and we're very close to collecting everything."
The Hog Exchange charge for selling isn't published. Rennie says, "It's based on the commercial environment. We buy the hogs, and then we turn around and sell them to the packers."
Rennie says the cost of selling varies, improving as volume of hogs rises. Last year, "It was .005 cents per kg, which works out to a little less than 50 cents a hog."
Before open marketing, total costs for both universal and marketing charges were $1.25. With a permanent split between universal and selling services in the offing, Rennie says a further separation of assets and accounting will be required, along with separate boards of directors.
Hodgman says the province's 3,500 producers were made aware of the pending vote through newsletters, but no meetings were held beforehand. "We felt producers were familiar with both sides of the coin and should be able to make up their minds."
Hodgman says that other than the selling role Alberta Pork activities remain the same. The organization is "taking a more active role in some of the areas like public affairs and environmental issues."
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Both environmental sabre rattling and pollution levels have diminished around Lake Huron this summer, reports Ontario Pork's environmental officer Sam Bradshaw.At a recent meeting in Huron county, previously feuding farm and environmental groups decided to "work together to reduce bacterial counts in the lake instead of blaming each other for the problem," says Bradshaw.
The foundation for the new approach is the groups' agreement to proceed by consensus rather than by voting on future direction, and a resolve "to try to keep everybody equal," he says.
Water samples collected by the local health unit from some 30 points along the lake reflect lower bacterial counts than last year at the same time. At press time only one beach had been closed for a few days due to pollution. Last year, swimming was suspended at seven.
Bradshaw theorizes that the reduction in pollution levels this summer may have more to do with weather than any changes at source. Extremely dry conditions have reduced surface run-off, and lower winds have curtailed agitation of harmful organisms, he says.
Joe Gleason, spokesman for many of the seasonal residents who had targeted area hog farms for the lake's woes, has been in Hawaii all year. In a telephone interview with Farm & Country he said he may return this month to make an announcement about his next move.
During a tireless campaign throughout 1997, Gleason vowed to sue Ontario Pork and several government agencies this fall if action was not taken on pollution issues.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Different ducks for different folks
BY CHRISTINA SELBY
King Cole Ducks and the Bard farm are both family-owned duck operations, but that's where the similarity ends.King Cole, in Aurora, is currently processing 1.6 million ducks a year with hopes of reaching the two-million mark by year's end. Their whole birds can be found on dinner tables in Canada, the U.S. and South America.
Ann and Don Bard, who farm in Cape Chin, south of Tobermory, send between 200 and 400 ducks a year to a local packer. "We're our own biggest customer," laughs Ann Bard, who says they serve duck at least twice a week to guests in their six-room bed and breakfast establishment. What's left is sold off to neighbours.
King Cole, founded by James and Margaret Murby in 1950, started out processing about 75 birds a week. Today, the completely integrated operation on 1,000 acres includes breeding barns, hatchery, growing barns and two processing plants - one provincial and one federally inspected.
King Cole is the largest duck operation in Canada, with 110 employees, including 15 family members, says Patty Thompson, granddaughter of the founder and head of Canadian sales and marketing.
Apart from the difference in size, duck breed is another point of diversity. King Cole produces White Pekins, says Thompson, because they're fast growers, and males and females weigh about the same, with maybe one-quarter of a pound difference. Liveweight after six-and-a-half weeks is about seven pounds, which dresses down to five pounds.
The Bards raise Muscovy ducks, which are larger, with a bigger difference in size between males and females. While the drakes can dress out at eight pounds, the females are usually half that size. Reaching slaughter weight takes longer with the Muscovy - between 10 and 14 weeks - and their feed conversion rate is lower than that of the Pekins.
The real difference, though, says Ann Bard, is on the plate. Muscovy ducks are less fatty than Pekins. They're also prized for their firm flesh, and are lower in calories than the Pekins. They're "not ducky tasting," she says. Bard says they're turning down Toronto restaurant business because they don't produce enough to meet demand. She's convinced there is great potential in the Muscovy duck market for large-scale production.
Lewis Day of Webfoot Farms in Elora says Muscovy ducks are a specialty breed, "more of a gourmet thing." Webfoot produces about 250,000 day-old Muscovy, Pekin and Rouens a year, but Day says 90 per cent of his business is Muscovy. While there are many Muscovy producers, most operate on a small scale.
The Bards are content with the size of their operation. The birds more than pay for themselves and are easy to raise, says Ann.
King Cole, on the other hand, is looking to grow and grow. Thompson says the acceptance of duck as an everyday food is half the battle. Culturally, most North Americans see duck as a holiday or special occasion food, she says. King Cole has been focusing its marketing efforts on the food service industry in hope of boosting consumption.
A large part of King Cole's business is the Greater Toronto Asian market, which it reaches through the 3,000 fresh birds sent each day to Gim Horn Poultry. Thompson says King Cole's growth is directly tied to the growth of the Asian population in Southern Ontario: "That's what I'd call our bread-and-butter business."
Their second-largest customer is Quebec, even though their closest competitor, Brome Lake, is located there. "It's on menus everywhere there," Thompson says. French Canadians consume more duck than English Canadians, but King Cole would like to change that, she says.
Recently, the company started marketing boneless breasts and legs along with such further processed products as smoked duck breast. "It's an easy product to prepare," she says, no more complicated than other poultry products.
Another growth area for King Cole is U.S. exports. "The biggest change in our business is the dollar," says Thompson. "The Americans can buy our product and it's a really good deal." King Cole ducks are replacing U.S. products in some areas, and Thompson hopes their quality will keep customers coming back, even when the Canadian dollar strengthens.
While King Cole is a major player in the Canadian duck market, Thompson admits that as far as U.S. producers are concerned, "we're just a blip. A large duck farm in the states processes 18 million ducks a year."
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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Grape growers seeing red
The growth in popularity in red wines is bad news for growers who've stuck with white hybrids
by Christina Selby
In mid-July, two of the largest purchasers of wine grapes, Vincor International Inc. and Andrés Wine Ltd., told producers that while all premium grapes would be bought, some white hybrid grapes wouldn't be required.That's bad news for Ontario growers who have populated their vineyards with lower end white varieties.
"Growers have spent most of the money by mid-summer bringing the crop to that point," says Jim Rainforth, secretary of the Ontario Grape Growers Marketing Board. In addition, they have to factor in harvest and transportation expenses to come.
Larry Gibson, vice-president of viticulture at Andrés, says buying practices have shifted to keep up with what the public wants and is willing to pay for. There has been a shift from white to red in the last three years, "and people are buying less volume and more quality," he says.
While it's difficult to estimate the total amount of grapes pushed into other markets, Vincor alone cut about 1,000 tonnes of white hybrid purchases. Between them, Vincor and Andrés represent more than 50 per cent of the Canadian market.
One Niagara grower, who wishes to remain anonymous, produces premium grapes under contract for Andrés. That contract is being honoured, he says, but the winery has refused to buy his French hybrid grapes, some of which are used for blending while others such as Vidal are used in lower-priced wines.
"They could have let us know in January," says the disgruntled grower. And letting growers know of the change a week or so before price negotiations put growers at a distinct disadvantage, feeling they had to take whatever was offered, he says. Negotiations are complete and Vidal, for example, has dropped from $595 a tonne last year to $565.
Gibson takes exception to growers' complaints: "There has been an understanding where things were shifting." Wineries have been encouraging growers for a number of years to concentrate on premium grapes and get rid of the SV23-512 variety, for example.
The Niagara grower agrees "there are some varieties that shouldn't be in the ground," and thinks Vincor's and Andrés' refusal to buy some grapes could make the industry stronger in the future.
But growers are still left with grapes on vines that need to be sold. One alternative is Canandaigua, a western New York winery that has been buying grapes from the Niagara region for the last 15 years. They'll be buying upward of 2,000 tonnes this year, says Rainforth.
Some of the Niagara grower's surplus will be going to Canandaigua, but he'll wind up with less money. The U.S. winery wants a low sugar, high acid grape for which they'll pay less than Ontario wineries pay for the high sugar, low acid product he grows. "I could gain $150 a tonne by leaving the grapes on the vine for a couple of weeks," he says.
Another alternative is the home wine market, which has been growing steadily. According to Rainforth, many of the home wine companies feel they haven't been getting enough grapes. "They should have a better opportunity this year" with the surplus, he says.
While the push toward premium grapes has been going strong, some wine producers feel the spotlight on high-end product is not always good for the market.
Hernder Estate Wineries has been offering their own range of products since 1993, and Angel Hernder, manager, says French hybrids are getting a bad rap. "We sell more Vidal than Chardonnay or Riesling," she says.
Not everyone can afford a $15 wine on a regular basis, she says. The $7 or $8 spent on a consistent, pleasant-tasting Vidal will keep people buying Ontario wines. "You have to offer something of reasonable quality for a reasonable price," she says - that's where day-to-day business comes from.
© copyright 1998 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.
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