Case Study: Apple Ledge Farm Coventry, Vermont, April 2014 (November 2014 Updates on Page 5) Written By: Alex Utevsky Compost Operator: Ned and Jana Lovejoy Compost System Types:

• Micro Scale Collection • Pasture-Based Chicken Composting • Windrow Composting

Project Overview: The primary goal of this project is to provide a pilot regional food scrap recycling center in the Northeast Kingdom. Apple Ledge Farm (ALF) will collect food scraps as well as receive food scraps delivered by Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District (NEKWMD) to be utilized as feed for laying hens. The residual materials, including chicken manure, high-carbon amendments, and uneaten food scraps will be composted on site to be used as an on-farm soil amendment (compost). Following the pilot phase, the farm can assess options to scale up operations to receive 5-10 Tons/Week of food scraps. Expected Outcomes:

• Development of a food scrap recycling system capable of the following: o Diversion rate of 0.5 - 1.5 Ton/Week in Year 1, to be phased in gradually o Production of 100 - 200 Laying Hens in Year 1 and 50-100 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 to share as a replicable community scale model.

Figure  1.  Apple  Ledge  Farm  on  Hancock  Hill  in  Coventry,  VT.

 

 

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Project Background: Apple Ledge farm is a small family farm located on a hill in beautiful northern Vermont, owned and operated by Ned and Jana Lovejoy. It is a pasture-based, highly diversified farm. The Lovejoys graze beef, pork, lamb, poultry, rabbits, and dairy. Rotational grazing is the basis of their pasture management. They strive to produce highly nutritious food for the community and improve the health of their soils. In an effort to raise eggs sustainably and to engage their local community about food-scrap recycling, the Lovejoys have decided to incorporate local food scraps into their egg-laying flock’s feed rations. Apple Ledge Farm connected with Highfields Center for Composting at a local food event at Jay Peak Resort and expressed interest in doing on-farm composting, as well as recycling food scraps as chicken feed. The concept was a clear opportunity for collaboration in the region between the Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District (NEKWMD) and Highfields. NEKWMD currently operates Residential Compost Drop-Off Stations in towns in the district, and Apple Ledge Farm has been designated as a composter to receive up to 1 ton per week of residential food scraps, although Coventry is technically not part of the waste district.The partnership between Apple Ledge Farm, NEKWMD, and HCC was officially initiated when a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was drafted and signed by all parties. Rural Community Composting Model: Apple Ledge Farm picks up food scraps weekly in 5-gallon buckets from a local elementary school. The farm will also receive food scraps delivered weekly by NEKWMD, which operates residential drop-off stations in the surrounding region. ALF is gradually building up to an operational scale based on receiving 1 Ton/Week (TPW) of food scraps as feed for the 150-200 laying hens they keep. Due to seasonal changes in layer flock management practices, Apple Ledge Farm has designed two different systems for Composting with Chickens, one for summer when the flock is on pasture, and the other for winter when the flock is sheltered in a “high tunnel.”

Figure  2.  The  Lovejoy  family  in  their  chicken  coop

 

 

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In the summer and fall months, the layer flock at Apple Ledge Farm is rotationally grazed on pasture with other livestock. In order to incorporate food scraps into their current system, the

Lovejoys are designing a system to use a manure spreader as a food scrap receiving and feeding area. Food scraps will be placed in the spreader on a daily basis along with other components of a compost recipe. The chickens will feed out of the spreader and the spreader will be ejected to form compost piles, probably on a semi-daily basis. Making use of the fact that the flock is rotated on pasture, the compost piles will be strategically placed around the farm in order to

minimize transport when spreading. A prototype system is planned for operation in the summer of 2014. The compost piles will be managed to achieve thermophilic temperatures and the finished compost will be utilized on pasture or in the vegetable garden. During winter, when the Apple Ledge layer flock is housed under cover, a stationary system has been designed for feeding food scraps and composting. Challenges and Opportunities: At this time, ALF has been receiving and composting food scraps from Coventry School for over 2 months, and the Lovejoys (and chickens) are enthusiastic about the low-cost feed source they have been utilizing. The Lovejoys host school class trips from Coventry School, so their system for composting with chickens will fit in nicely with the rest of the farm tour and activities. A stated goal of the farm is to initiate a “closed-loop” food model, in which the school supplies food scraps to the farm, and the farm supplies eggs to the school.

Figure  3.  Chicken  grazing  set  up  during  the  Summer  and  Fall

Figure  4.  Poster  for  Coventry  Village  School  showing  a  closed  food  cycle

 

 

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Anecdotal reports about egg quality have been very positive, including mention of bright, firm yolks and delicious taste. Typical weekly diversion from Coventry School at this time is 30 gallons per week, or about .07 Tons/Week. The small scale of operations provides the benefits of:

• Allowing Apple Ledge Farm to gradually and organically develop their food scrap collection and composting systems and try different methods to see what will work best on their farm.

• Utilization of human-scaled operations, e.g. handling food scraps in 5 gallon buckets, and transporting them in a station wagon or pickup truck. As operations gradually expand, the Lovejoys will likely employ new strategies and tools.

Efforts will be made to achieve the above-mentioned goal of 1 Ton/Week of food waste; however, due to timing of the scale-up of Residential Drop-Off programs, the tonnage of food scraps currently received at Apple Ledge is lower than the potential at the pilot scale. Monitoring and analysis of the pilot project for replicability will take place as the pilot project scales up over the course of the year.

A common challenge for farmers in the Northeast who feed food scraps to their chickens is frozen food scraps due to the severely cold winter climate. In the case of Apple Ledge Farm, where their poultry is housed in a high tunnel, the body heat of the animals, and the heating mass of the high tunnel’s bedded pack provide enough heat to keep internal temperatures above freezing, which aids in thawing frozen food scraps. The clear poly film on the exterior of the high tunnel also helps to create internal temperatures well above freezing on sunny days. The effectiveness of this strategy will be evaluated next Winter as operations scale up this year; the system may be adapted if an increased volume of food scraps requires a different handling system due to added space and labor requirements.

Figure  5.  Highfields’  James  McSweeney  with  Ned  Lovejoy  during  a  site  assessment  at  Apple  Ledge  Farm

Figure  6.  Ned  and  Jana  Lovejoy  of  Apple  Ledge  Farm

 

 

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Conclusion: Apple Ledge Farm has shown great success at its current level of activity and promise of achieving the pilot scale goals in year one. The program has been met with enthusiasm by all of the partners involved, including the Coventry Elementary School. As a farm-based composting system, the project will demonstrate an effective way to lower feed costs in a pasture-based egg production enterprise, while at the same time producing compost, and engaging and educating the local community and youth about sustainable food systems. The project is on its way to being a replicable example of a rural community composting system. Operations are expected to expand, increasing local food production, and community awareness and participation in composting. Update: November 2014 Current Food Scrap Collection Since initiating food scrap collection in February 2014, Apple Ledge Farm has consistently collected approximately seven 5-gallon buckets per week from Coventry (with ~2 month hiatus for summer vacation). After about 10 months of operation, the success of the program at Coventry School led Newport City School (NCS) to approach ALF for the same service. In October 2014, ALF began collecting from Newport City School (~300 students). ALF estimates that weekly food scraps from NCS total about 65 gallons per week (almost 300 lbs.week). In order to collect this volume of food scraps, ALF developed a collection system utilizing a 100-gallon livestock water trough as a central collection vessel. The trough is brought to the school in the back of the farm’s pickup truck, and food scraps in 5-gallon buckets are transferred to the trough, washed out, and the buckets are left at the school clean and ready for re-use. This requires fewer total buckets in rotation, and Ned states that he is happy with this system, although he plans to re-evaluate the effectiveness of this system this winter during severe cold weather conditions. Total food scrap recycling per week is currently around 100 gallons (0.2 Tons/Week), which is a significant increase from the 0.07 Tons/Week that the farm had been receiving for the majority of the grant period. At this time, ALF has not received residential food scraps from NEKWMD. As mentioned above, ALF and NEKWMD had arranged for ~1 Ton/Week of food scraps from a Residential Drop-Off station in the NEK region to be delivered weekly to ALF. Although this has yet to be implemented, they continue to see this as a potentially beneficial arrangement in the future, which would allow the farm to scale up their egg

 

 

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production while saving on feed costs. On-farm feeding operations Apple Ledge Farm has yet to achieve a scale of operations that requires utilizing the manure-spreader technique originally envisioned; however the farmers continue to see this as a probable strategy to employ in the future, when they are receiving ~1 Ton/Week. Throughout the remainder of last year’s winter, food scraps continued to be fed on the bedded pack in the chicken coop/high tunnel. Similarly, when the flock was turned out to pasture in the summer months, food scraps from Coventry School were fed out on the pasture, and any remaining material was left to decompose in place. Since recently acquiring the food scraps from Newport City School (a 300% increase in volume), the farm has adopted a modified feeding system to deal with the increased food scraps. Due to concerns about excess food scrap residuals in the pasture after feeding, food scraps are now fed daily on a rugged tarp (similar to woven shade cloth) on the pasture. The tarp allows for food scraps to be consolidated in one primary location, and uneaten food scraps are bundled up in the tarp, transported to a managed composting system, and amended with wood chips. The tarp can easily be dragged around the pasture, spreading out the impact of the flock on the pasture. ALF has had some success with procuring wood chips from local tree service companies, and estimate that they are receiving wood chips for ~$2/yard delivered. They have also bought limited quantities of hardwood bark from a local sawmill, but priced at almost $10/yard, they have found this option to be cost-prohibitive. Outreach and Program Expansion Apple Ledge Farm continues to provide field trips and tours to school groups free of charge, and the chicken feeding system is

Best  Management  Practices  at    Apple  Ledge  Farm  Because  rotational  grazing  is  central  to  the  farming  operations  at  ALF,  pasture  health  and  production  are  a  paramount  concern.  For  this  reason,  food-­‐scrap  feeding  on  pasture  is  now  contained  on  a  tarp,  which  allows  the  farmers  to  reduce  the  volume  of  food  scrap  residue,  thus  maintaining  a  more  hygienic  pasture  environment.    

   

 

 

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demonstrated on their farm tour. After ALF initiated food scrap collection at Coventry School, the school began to regularly purchase eggs from ALF, which served to “close the loop” between farmer and consumer, one of ALF’s intentions with their food scrap collection program. Recently, Coventry School decided to discontinue egg purchases from ALF in favor of less expensive eggs, despite an already discounted price ($2.50/dozen) provided to the school by ALF. ALF is very enthusiastic about initiating collection at Newport City School, and hopeful that they will also be able to sell eggs to the school, in order to provide locally grown nutritious food to the students. Due to the relatively large size of NCS compared with Coventry School, ALF expects to invest more time and energy into Source Separation trainings for students and staff at NCS, and has reached out to Green Mountain Farm-to-School for assistance with in-school trainings. Program Successes Apple Ledge has estimated that at their current scale of egg production and food scrap collection, they have been able to reduce their grain feeding by about 20%. Further cost savings are made possible by feeding food scraps, because due to the diversity of high-quality post-consumer food scraps fed to the chickens, ALF has switched from organic layer pellets to organic dairy cow pellets, which are less expensive. Aside from the benefit of low-cost chicken feed, other benefits cited by Apple Ledge include positive feedback from school food service staff: by source-separating organics in the cafeteria, the task of handling trash has become easier, due to decreased weight of trash. Great Videos: http://vimeo.com/78850025 http://vimeo.com/31066182 November 2014 Update Provided By Compost Technical Services www.CompostTechnicalServices.com

 

 

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Acknowledgments This Composter Pilot Project and 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.

 

www.highfieldscomposting.org