Case Study: Tinmouth Compost Tinmouth, Vermont - April 2014 (November 2014 Updates on Page 5) Written By: Alex Utevsky Compost Operator: Wheaton Squier Compost System Types: • Micro Scale Collection • Chicken Composting • Aerated Static Pile Composting Project Overview: The primary goal of this project is to provide a pilot regional food scrap recycling center that produces horticultural-grade Figure 1. Wheaton Squier of compost and potting soil. An end goal of the project is to Tinmouth Compost provide compost to the diversified farms in central and southern VT (Rutland Area) and to help food scrap generators and municipalities comply with Act 148, as well as to provide full and part-time employment opportunities for Tinmouth area residents. Following a successful pilot phase, the farm can assess potentially scaling up operations to receive 5-10 Tons/Week of food scraps. Expected Outcomes: • Development of a food scrap recycling system capable of the following: - Diversion of 0.5- 1 Ton/Week in Year 1 - Production of 50-200 Laying Hens in Year 1 and 75-200 cubic yards of finished compost in years 1-2 • Documentation of the farm’s composting system to share as a replicable community scale model. • Demonstrations of the system to the public on a periodic basis.
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Project Background: Tinmouth Compost is a new farming operation started by Wheaton Squier, who saw an opportunity to raise healthy food and help recycle his community’s organic “waste.” The Squier family operates both a horse farm and a vegetable CSA (Breezy Meadows Farm), making a composting operation a wellpositioned link in the chain between local organic materials (food scraps and manures) and agricultural production. The partnership between Tinmouth Compost Figure 2. Chicken nest boxes at Tinmouth Compost and Highfields Center for Composting was initiated at a composter stakeholder meeting in Rutland, VT, aimed at building capacity to compost food scraps in Rutland area communities. Highfields staff designed a composting system sized for 1 Ton/Week of chicken-feeding and food-scrap composting capacity, intended to be constructed within existing infrastructure on the Squier Farm. Wheaton then worked to clear an unused barn space, build chicken housing, and prepare the site for installation of the composting system. Rural Community Composting Model: At the time of this publication, Tinmouth Compost has initiated food scrap collection and composting, and will be raising the first flock of layers on compost in the summer of 2014. The newly established operation represents a unique combination of chicken feeding and composting.
Figure 3. Twelve-‐gallon compost totes outside kitchen at Tinmouth Center School
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Wheaton hauls food scraps from local schools and businesses with his pickup truck and can provide food scrap generators (FSGs) with different size containers, including 5, 12, and 32gallon totes. The chicken composting system has been sized to receive, feed, and compost 1 Ton/Week of food scraps, to be phased in gradually. To support the farm in effectively capturing local food scraps for chicken feed, Highfields conducted a Trainthe-Trainer session with Wheaton of Tinmouth Compost, and conducted a school training at Tinmouth Center Figure 4. Repurposed dairy barn to be used as a chicken coop School in order for the school to begin composting cafeteria food scraps. Wheaton now collects food scraps from Tinmouth Center School and a local bakery, and is in the process of developing his hauling operational plan and soliciting more FSG’s. Chicken composting operations take place inside a repurposed 100’ x 60’ Quonset-style dairy barn. The feeding/compost blending area is positioned between the chicken coop and the primary composting system. Chickens are shut in at night and allowed access to the feeding area all-day, as well as access to an outdoor pasture area. The feeding/compost blending area contains the flock and excludes them from other operating areas. Using a compost recipe, amendments are added regularly to the feeding area and to the coop as bedding. Bedding, manure, and refused feed will be blended weekly or bi-weekly, depending on intake rate and available space. The recipe will include ~20% refused feed/manure blend. The remaining ~80% will consist of amendments including horse bedding, hay, woodchips, and dairy bedding. An accurate, analytically developed recipe will be created based on testing of manure/bedding in start-up phases. When a volume of 10 cubic yards of food scraps and amendments has built up in the feeding area, it is then blended with a tractor bucket in place, and loaded into the Aerated Static Pile system for active primary composting, where it will reside for 3-4 weeks. During this phase, the compost will achieve temperatures >131F, inactivating weed seeds and pathogens and meeting standards for use on organic farms. Chickens will not be allowed access to compost
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that has met temperature requirements, in order to exclude new manures and maintain organic suitability. Secondary active composting will take place in windrows managed inside the barn for another 4 weeks, and compost curing and storage will take place in windrows outside the barn on a concrete pad, formerly a silage bunker. The finished compost will be applied at Breezy Meadows Farm or sold to local gardeners. Challenges and Opportunities: The development of the Tinmouth Compost project happened on a slower timeline than the partners had originally envisioned. Early in the project, questions about appropriate scale led to a long discovery process. The benefit of these early assessments and discussions is a much clearer picture of the permitting requirements necessary to grow to their ideal scale long-term. In addition to a long discovery process, as farmers, the Squires are usually very busy with other farm-related tasks such as logging, sugaring, haying, animal care, fixing equipment, and other general farm work. For this reason, composting operations have only just begun on the farm. In order to replicate a project involving starting an entirely new business, including new infrastructure, based on entirely unpaid labor, assume at least six months for planning, six months for development, and one year for deployment and scale-up. In the first year of operation, there will be issues that need to be resolved, so being able to learn those prior to reaching full scale is actually beneficial. Conclusion: Tinmouth Compost is off to a good start as it initiates the various operations including food scrap collection, egg farming, and composting. Community response is very positive to the project, and Wheaton will hopefully achieve the diversion goal of 1 ton per week within the year 2014. Both the farm and Highfields have learned valuable lessons, and we anticipate further collaboration as Tinmouth Compost expands operations. While the development of operations is behind schedule, this will in the end allow for an organically paced scale-up suited to the needs and routine of the operator, which should aid the viability and longevity of this nascent project. As operations . Design for Tinmouth Compost chicken operation develop, Tinmouth Compost will serve as Figure 5Tinmouth Egg Farm Design Recommendations
Clients: Wheaton Squire & Josh Brill 789 Rt 140 Tinmouth VT 05773 (802) 446-2082
Designer: Alex Utevsky Draft: 1.0 Date: December 19, 2013
Compost Technical Services • 802-472-5138 x201 • PO Box 503 Hardwick, VT 05843 • HighfieldsComposting.org
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a replicable small-scale model of a community composting system, “Closing the Loop” in rural areas such as Tinmouth.
Update: November 2014 Food Scrap Collection Since initiating food scrap collection and chicken feeding in May 2014, Tinmouth Compost has made significant increases in the food scrap collection route. Initially, Wheaton was able to secure regular food scraps from Tinmouth Central School. After successfully implementing collection at the school, Squier has acquired another school (in Wells), as well as three local commercial food scrap generators.
Best Management Practices At Tinmouth Compost Because food scraps tend to be a w et, high-‐Nitrogen material, it is recommended to amend them with dry, high-‐ carbon materials in order to maintain sanitary conditions, reduce odor and vector issues, and build a viable compost pile. At Tinmouth Compost, Wheaton feeds food scraps inside the coop, and places amendments including hay and w ood chips down in order to maintain optimal conditions for both the flock, and the compost. Residuals and bedding are then removed and composted with other amendments.
Current collection from all generators is estimated to be 0.23 Tons/Week (463 lbs.), which is about 25% of the systems design capacity. Wheaton is encouraged by the recent increase in generators and is expecting to gradually expand his collection services in the local area. The Tinmouth town transfer station is also excited about implementing a Residential Drop-Off Station for food scraps, which is expected to go to Tinmouth Compost when operational.
Wheaton has found the 12-gallon food scrap totes to be an ideal size for his current
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operational scale, because he is able to lift them when full without mechanical assistance, and they easily fit into his car. On-farm Feeding and Composting Operations Wheaton built the chicken housing and composting infrastructure according to designs provided by Highfields and acquired a flock of 50 Black Australorp laying hens. Because the food scrap generators serviced by Tinmouth Compost are all very local to the farm, Wheaton has been able to stagger his collection schedule when necessary, as opposed to collecting from all generators at once. The flock is fed ~66 lbs of food scraps daily, averaging 1.3 lbs/bird. Because this is about 66% of daily recommended feeding rations, Wheaton also feeds out grain-based layer pellets to supplement the flock’s diet. As the collection route expands, he will have the option of feeding a strictly food-scrap-based ration. Because current volume of food scraps is below projection, Wheaton has developed a modified feeding system, in which he feeds food scraps inside the chicken coop (instead of the adjacent feeding area recommended by Highfields), amending the wet food scraps with dry high-carbon materials. Once materials have accumulated inside the coop, the blend of residual food scraps and amendments is transferred and consolidated in an outdoor compost pile. The feeding and composting infrastructure to handle increased weekly tonnage of food scraps (up to 1 Ton/Week) is already in place at Tinmouth Compost, as operations gradually scale up to that point. Future Plans Wheaton has been pleased with collection and feeding operations, and the food scrap collection program has received positive feedback from generators and the local community. Wheaton intends to expand to the planned 1 Ton/Week scale, at which point a feasibility assessment may be made for further expansion of operations. November 2014 Update Provided By Compost Technical Services www.CompostTechnicalServices.com
www.highfieldscomposting.org
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Acknowledgments This Composter Case Study was funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets and the Working Lands Enterprise Board with the VSWDMA as grantee, and also funded in part by grants from the Utilities Programs, United States Department of Agriculture, and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Solid Waste Program with Highfields Center for Composting as the grantee. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Grantors.
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