County and state help farmers cut energy costs

By TOM KANE

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Danny Brey’s family has been running an egg farm on Swiss Hill Road near Kenoza Lake since 1932 and during all that time their energy costs have been skyrocketing.

But not any more.

Since 2001, Dan has received a number of grants through the Sullivan County Department of Planning from the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to fund a method of producing high-quality compost that cuts a big chunk out of his energy costs.

“It began as a grant from the Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) to help reduce conflicts between farmers and their new neighbors,” said Rick Bishop of the county’s planning department. “More and more residents, especially new second-home owners, objected to the spreading of chicken manure on fields near their homes, so we had to find a solution. A $5,000 grant paid for a study that came up with a new method of handling manure.”

The study resulted in a $100,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to implement this new method.

“With the grant, I set up two long chicken coops with the chickens on the top floor and the manure collected on the bottom floor from the chickens above,” Brey said. “The grant paid for a churning machine that passed through the manure three times a week, aerated it and turned it into an excellent compost at the exiting end of the building.”

The agitation machine, which cost $70,000 and is nicknamed “Porche,” was paid by another NYSERDA grant.

The compost that emerges from the ends of the two coop buildings is transported to another section of Brey’s farm where it is mixed with hay and woodchips and germinates under a large roof into an even higher quality compost.

“The compost is placed in windows where it sits for one year and can reach a temperature of 140 degrees,” Brey said. “The process kills all seeds of weeds so the product is pure.”

Another step in the process is the creation of a high quality topsoil. “This topsoil is much more superior than any other topsoils you can buy,” Brey said. “The reason is that the compost from which it is produced is such a high quality.”

So, there’s no more spreading of manure on fields.

“We made a lot of people happy,” Bishop said. “We produced fertilizer instead of a nuisance.”

“It’s really surprising that we can make chicken s—t look so good,” Brey said.

“The by-product was that the method cut energy costs tremendously,” Bishop said.

But where are the energy savings?

“I had to have 36 electric fans in each of the two buildings to get rid of the odor and the ammonia,” Brey said. “They ate up three amps each and cost $2,000 a month to run, So, the total savings in two houses was $4,000 a month. That’s $48,000 in savings a year. Wow!”

It also eliminated the use of diesel fuel for the manure spreader.

Some plusses for the environment were that spreading chemicals to kill the swarm of flies could be discontinued, as well as eliminating the leeching of manure into the water table.

Now, Brey has a quality compost to sell to gardeners, landscapers and nurseries.

“So, we’ve got energy savings, fuel savings and a high-quality compost, which is a value-added product,” Bishop said. “Dan also employs one person.”

A proto-type shared

“Dan had no problem sharing the proto-type process with other farmers,” Bishop said. So far, two farms are introducing the same composting process on their buildings. These are the Hudson Valley Foie Gras Farm in Harris, NY and Bella Poultry in Bethel, NY.

Both farms purchased an agitation machine with the grant, and began producing compost. As with Brey, they achieve considerable energy savings with the new method.

“My savings are mostly in fuel that I used to spend on spreading the manure,” said Hermann Lee, owner of Bella Poultry. “I have a different way of making compost, unlike Dan Brey. I never utilize fans. I take the manure out of six buildings and bring it to another building where an agitator aerates it and makes it into compost. I save about $200 a week in diesel fuel. That’s about $10,000 a year. That saving is a big help.”

A cheese cave can save energy

Another agriculture project that will eventually conserve energy is the creation of a cheese-cave where cheese will be produced. It is called a cave because it will eventually be produced and stored underground.

Bishop, who is also a part-time farmer and has a degree in agronomy from Cornell University, secured a $65,000 NYSERDA grant to start the cheese production process on the dairy farm of Tim and Mary Tonjes in the Beechwoods near Callicoon. The operation is called the “Beechwoods Dairy Demonstration Site.”

The grant paid for three cheese production experts from Scotland, Vermont and Canada, who visited the Tonjes dairy farm to teach them the skills of cheese production.

A modular cheese-making training unit called a “Cheesemobile” is a state-approved dairy plant in a 12’ x 36’ custom-built modular space type of trailer. The trailer, which was paid for by a grant from the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Educational Program was set up on the farm and milk is piped from the milk house.

The Tonjes Farm cellar will be a prototype for other dairy farms to copy.

“Equipped with information on how to build such a system, we will work together to solve a portion of the economic hardships facing the small dairy farm family,” Bishop said.