Wise Worm Compost Case Study by James McSweeney

Case Study: Wise Worm Compost At Spinning Witch Farm West Burke, Vermont - April 2014 (November 2014 Updates on Page 6)

Prepared By: Maia Hansen Compost Operator: Terrance LaPointe Compost System Types: • Micro-Scale Collection • Windrow Composting • Ergonomic Tote Handling Project Overview: Wise Worm Compost is an established on-farm composting operation that has also provided small-scale collection services to the Burke area community. The purpose of this project was to help develop more sustainable food scrap sources and handling methods for the farm. The project utilized partnerships with the Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District (NEKWMD) and Highfields Center for Composting to strategize around local collection routes in the region. This allowed the farm to transfer collection of food scraps, which was no longer sustainable at the scale they had reached. Through these partnerships, we were able to “We have limited resources and replace collection services by the farm, with everything that we can use we need collection services by Highfields, while to put to good use” supplying the farm with new material from —Terrance LaPointe NEKWMD’s nascent Residential Food Scrap Drop-Off Program. In addition, Highfields worked with the farm to develop less labor-intensive food scrap handling methods.

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Expected Outcomes: Improved system for handling the farm’s 1 Ton/Week food scrap diversion Transition from the farm operated food scrap collection service to delivery of scraps from rural residential drop-off programs by NEKWMD to the farm Operation of a residential drop-off at the farm for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members and neighbors Documentation of the Residential Food Scrap Drop-Off and food scrap handling and composting systems to share as a replicable community scale model Demonstrations of the systems to the public on a periodic basis, to share as a replicable community scale model

Project Background: Wise Worm Compost of Spinning Witch Farm is located in West Burke, VT. Terrance and Nicole LaPointe grow a variety of vegetables, herbs, and flowers, and in 2009, the LaPointes added a composting operation to their farm. Originally, Paul Tomassi of the NEKWMD encouraged the LaPointes to collect a small amount of food scraps from Newark School in Newark, VT. Over time their collection and composting operation expanded significantly. Wise Worm Compost is now a certified compost facility that processes approximately 60 tons of food scraps per year. Between late 2012 and early 2013, Terrance determined that physically collecting the quantity of totes was too much wear and tear on his vehicles and was not sustainable for his Figure 1. Terrance LaPointe, of operation. Highfields, NEKWMD, and Wise Worm Wise Worm Compost Compost worked together with the goal of transferring food scrap generators (FSGs) from Wise Worm Compost & NEKWMD collection programs to another hauler, and expanding composting collection services in the region. The partners worked together to reallocate food scrap generator collection in a way that made sense for all parties. An additional challenge the project worked to address was the handling of the heavy food scrap totes once they arrived at the compost site. These 48-gallon food scrap totes weigh about 220 pounds each and are often frozen solid in the winter, making the ergonomics very difficult. The farm had been collecting food scraps on a trailer and then transporting them to

the compost site from the driveway in the bucket of a tractor. Then the totes were tipped manually, layering the food scraps into new sections of the windrows, which could then be turned with the tractor bucket. Road infrastructure was not suitable to deliver food scraps directly to the composting location at the farm. Highfields Technical staff worked with Terrance to develop both short and long-term strategies to more efficiently transport and handle food scraps on his site. Rural Community Composting Model: At the time Highfields’ collection route, CTL! NEK, was developed in early 2013, Terrance was collecting food scraps from schools in St. Johnsbury, including St. Johnsbury Academy and Good Shepherd School. He was happy to give up hauling from these locations, as they were 20 miles from his farm and he had to take multiple trips each time he picked up. The CTL! NEK route took on the schools and businesses in St. Johnsbury, and Terrance redirected to locations in Burke. For over a year, Terrance picked up from Burke Mountain Resort, Burke Mountain Academy, Juniper Restaurant, Burke Town School, Kerrigans Market and Deli, and Burke Senior Meal Site/Burke Recycling Center. Terrance used a pickup and trailer to haul 48-gallon totes from businesses and schools. Terrance’s current trailer holds 8 totes. Over time, hauling totes has proved to be too laborious for both him and his truck. When problems arose with his vehicle, Terrance decided to redirect his composting efforts by getting the majority of food scraps delivered to his site. During the summer of 2013, HCC worked with NEKWMD to create residential food scrap drop-off locations throughout the NEK. The waste district hauls this material, as well as material from a number of schools, directly to Terrance. In the winter of 2013/2014, Terrance stopped picking up from Burke Mountain Academy, Burke Mountain Resort and Juniper Restaurant, suggesting they join HCC’s CTL! NEK route. Now, since he receives most of the material at his site from NEKWMD, he hauls only a small amount of food scraps from Burke Town School, Kerrigans Market and Deli and Burke Senior Meal Site, which is also the

“People 10,000 years ago knew that you needed to use everything that you could, everything had to go back into the soils to enrich the soils. And we got away from that over the years as we grew into a society that is very wasteful. Now as there are more and more people to feed, we need to start putting this resource back into our soils so we can provide the food that our growing society needs.” —Terrance LaPointe

location of the Burke Recycling Center. Although Terrance has managed to transition out of hauling most of the food scraps, his onfarm infrastructure requires that he still receive food scraps in totes. This means that he has to manually tip each of the totes instead of having a load dumped in a receiving bay, a common method for food scrap composters. Terrance’s routine consists of strapping two totes into the bucket of his tractor, driving them to the compost windrows, and by hand, laying the 220 pound totes on their side, and then squatting to pick them up from the bottom in order to empty them. Highfields explored building a concrete receiving bay with cinder block walls for blending a compost recipe, so that food scraps could be delivered loose in a trailer, but he has tried to stay away from concrete on his land. Instead, Terrance suggested a tote tipping tool that would allow him to ergonomically empty totes. Highfields developed a tote-tipping platform for Terrance that could be attached with a three-point hitch to the back of his tractor (Figure 2). Unfortunately, the platform did not function for the purpose intended, mostly due to miscommunication of the design concept and requirements between Highfields, Terrance, and the contractor who built the system. It was a classic case of misinterpretation of needs and operational function. A redesign was needed based Terrance’s original concept, and Terrance will use the tipping bar from the platform and Figure 2. Tote tipping platform refabricate it to a three-point hitch scraping blade he has on the farm. The new tipper will function in the interim, while Wise Worm builds a receiving bay, a decision that will be a more effective long-term remedy to the current food scrap handling challenges on the farm. Despite changes in where his food scraps are coming from, Wise Worm Compost is composting an average of 5 tons of food scraps each month. Terrance blends food scraps with horse bedding/manure from his neighbor’s farm, sawdust, shredded paper and woodchips. He produces high quality finished compost that he uses on their farm. The operation doesn’t sell compost, but they will trade compost with neighbors for other goods.

During spring 2014, Terrance will start a residential drop-off at his farm for neighbors and CSA members to use. HCC provided him with buckets, stickers and magnets for his 6 CSA share members, as well as residential drop-off signs for the farm. A food scrap drop-off for CSA members is a new model that allows people to directly close the loop on their food system. This year, Spinning Witch Farm is expanding their cropping footprint by 4,000 square feet. The expansion wouldn’t be possible without the compost production at the farm. Challenges and Opportunities: The tipping bar platform proved to be challenging for Terrance. He believes that it has potential, but in his case he has to constantly Figure 3 Residential drop-‐off materials provided to CSA remove it from his tractor in order to transfer more totes. Terrance members mentioned that this model might work for farmers with more than one piece of equipment. The structure is 400 pounds, and although it can be pulled with a tractor, the legs need to be adjusted by hand, and the totes need to be pulled by hand up the ramp. A winch could solve the ramp problem, but he would still be facing leg adjustments and having to continuously remove the structure from his tractor. Since the tote tipping platform was not successful in minimizing work for the operation, Terrance came up with a different tool design that could be used (Figure 4). His idea was to create a modified back blade. Off of the 3-point hitch on a tractor, the main bar of a back blade would protrude, with a simple tote-tipping bar on the end, and the blade removed. This bar could be adjusted in height using the 3-point hitch, and the totes wouldn’t need to be wheeled up an incline. In addition, the structure could stay on the tractor while loads of totes were being brought to the compost piles.

Conclusion: Wise Worm Compost is an ideal model for a sustainable micro-scale composting operation. This model shows us that there is a threshold level for food scrap collection that remains ergonomically viable, and at a certain point, additional infrastructure is Figure 4. Modified Back Blade Tote Tipper

required to make a program sustainable. Terrance has found the balance of hauling and processing that works for him, and he will continue to find innovative techniques for increasing efficiency.

Update: November 2014 Food Scrap Tipping: Since April 2014, Wise Worm Compost has continued composting operations at Spinning Witch Farm, and has seen a significant increase in food scraps received on-site. Currently 2-4 Tons/Week are tipped at Wise Worm, including ~0.5 Tons that are self-hauled by Terrance. The remainder is hauled and delivered with a box truck by the NEKWMD. As noted above, Terrance has chosen not to utilize the tractor-mounted tote-tipping platform, due to poor functionality of the equipment. After experimenting with another tote-tipping device made from an adapted tractor-mounted scraper blade, he has decided to manually tip totes as he has done reliably for years, for now. However, with increased volume of food scraps currently being delivered to Wise Worm Compost and more expected in the future, the current manual tipping system does not appear to be a sustainable option going forward. As noted in the following section, Wise Worm Compost is expecting to scale up composting operations, and has made plans to accommodate fully mechanized tipping equipment at the composting facility. Infrastructure Improvements: Wise Worm Compost is currently in the fundraising phase of a significant expansion of its composting capacity. The LaPointes are planning to install a concrete receiving bay (“mixing bunk”), in order to accommodate larger volumes of food scraps to be tipped and processed on a weekly basis.

As noted above, a perennial issue preventing food scrap tipping by larger vehicles was unimproved road access. Current plans include widening the access road from Sugarhouse Road to the proposed tipping area, thus allowing large dump trucks and dump-trailers access to the facility year-round with ease. The access road will lead to an elevated tipping platform (36” high), preceded by a ramp graded to a 10% slope. From the tipping platform, dump trucks will tip food scraps into a concrete “mixing bunk”, sized at 400 ft2. The 36” elevation of the tipping platform will enable larger dump trucks to fully lift their hydraulic dump bodies, discharging the food scraps above the mixing bunk. This will be an operational efficiency for both haulers and the LaPointes, and allow Wise Worm Compost to pursue business relationships with more haulers.

Best Management Practices at Wise Worm Compost

The L aPointes expect to improve their composting system by installing a Receiving Bay, or “mixing bunk.” The area will be 400 square feet of poured concrete, with 2 concrete push-‐walls. A Receiving Bay functions as a designated area for tipping food scraps, and then blending them with amendments to produce compost. The impermeable concrete surface, graded to direct leachate to a vegetated area in a sheet flow, will provide a firm working surface for regular use of a tractor bucket. The elevated tipping platform is an ideal tipping area for dump trucks, as it allows full lift of dump bodies without dragging the tail end in the tipped food scraps. When receiving food scraps at any location, best practices are to build a base of carbon materials in which to receive them. The operator can make a “trough” with wood chips, well-‐bedded manure (horse bedding), and other dry materials to catch and absorb moisture quickly. This supports the rapid homogenization of the m ix, absorbing free liquids and nitrogen and keeping the m aterial as contained as possible. The material is then capped (covered) with other feedstocks following a compost recipe, until it can be fully blended and formed into a compost windrow.

The concrete mixing bunk will effectively provide a hard, impermeable work surface on which to blend freshly tipped food scraps with high-carbon feedstocks such as sawdust and horse bedding. There will be two perpendicular “push-walls” which will facilitate the material blending and handling - once blended, compost can be easily scooped up against the push-walls.

Future Production As evidenced by their proposed facility improvements, Wise Worm Compost hopes to significantly expand compost production in the near future. The business could potentially quadruple the amount of material it manages under its current certification as a small composting facility, and therefore, quadruple the amount of finished compost it can produce and sell. The LaPointes are projecting the capacity to receive 5-10 Tons/Week of food scraps with the proposed facility improvements. At the low end of these projections (5 Tons/Week), Wise Worm Compost can produce upwards of 1000 yds of finished compost per year, representing a very significant increase in production and potential sales. By making the improvements necessary to receive larger loads of food scraps and eliminating the laborious process of manual tote tipping, the Lapointes are working towards a truly sustainable organics recycling business. The increased tipping revenue and decreased labor cost will ideally enable Wise Worm Compost to expand their operations and achieve financial stability for the business.

November 2014 Update Provided by Compost Technical Services, LLC.

www.CompostTechnicalServices.com

www.highfieldscomposting.org

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. .