Aeration Key
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trucked to finishing farms where they reach a
weight of 240-250 pounds. The Pine Hill Facility
has been in operation since 1996.
Some of the manure generated by the farrowing
facility is spread on the farm’s 130 tillable acres.
“When we really notice (the difference in the
odor) is on application of the manure when we
spread. My subjective feeling is that we have a SO
percent reduction. We had a third party come in
from the Midwest and evaluate when we were doing
it and I think it’s fair to say with their analysis that
we were indeed reducing the odor,” said Frame.
To comply with nutrient management regula
tions, the remainder of the manure is given to 20
area farmers free of charge, under agreements that
require certain application rates and usage. Some of
these farmers noticed the changes in the amount of
odor immediately.
“We had one guy who takes manure from the
lagoon ask, ‘if it doesn’t stink, is it any good?’ He
was concerned that it wasn’t doing what it was sup
posed to do. Another farmer asked what we were
doing differently,” said Frame.
Another local farmer, who has been getting
manure from the sow farm since it was built, not
iced the difference immediately. He claims that the
manure doesn’t have the odor that it once had and
that the odor doesn’t linger in the air nearly as long.
Jennifer Reed notes that there is a tremendous
demand for the manure from the pits.
“Farmers want this manure. They’ve seen what it
can do for their crops and there’s actually a waiting
list,” Reed said.
An added benefit of aerating the manure is that
you have a more consistent product to spread on the
fields.
“We have a running average of samples of the
manure that is taken out of the pit,” said Frame. “It
we were to take 10 samples after the first 5 loads
and 10 samples after 10 loads and after 15,1 think
we’d have more consistency in the sample results,
whereas before, if you did that same pattern, we’d
probably have less consistency in the analysis. In
terms of change in the nutrient content, I don’t
think we’re doing that and that’s not our intent,”
said Frame.
Current nutrient management plans are based on
nitrogen, however phosphorus has been gaining
more attention in the past several years.
Yet another strategy Country View Family
Farms implements through the feed company is the
addition of phytase, a natural enzyme, into the
sow’s feed. This enzyme increases phosphorus use
by the animal, reducing the mineral in the manure
by 50 percent over the last five years.
“Penn State has typical averages for the state of
what your manure analysis should be for nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium, and what we’ve seen in
our manure results is that in our manure samples,
our phosphorus is a lot lower than the state aver
age,” said Reed.
“We’re going to be involved with a phosphorous
study with Penn State this spring,” said Frame.
Reed added that Country View Family Farms
works with many different groups on several proj
ects aimed at farming more efficiently and improv
ing public perception.
“One project that we’re working with most hand
in hand is that Pennsylvania has a nutrient manage
ment plan based on nitrogen and they’re coming out
with phosphorous indexing.
“Chris and I knew that our phosphorous levels
were a lot less than the state average, so we kind of
got some conversations started and they’re going to
come up and do some sampling of manure, they re
going to look at soils and at phosphorus run-off and
other things that tie in with the phosphorous index
ing with the state, to get some really solid data.
“They’re going to use several of our sow, nursery
and finishing farms to do that research,” said Reed.
Another project that will be conducted with Penn
State is the use of a methane digester.
“My opinion is that with any industry, you talk to
other people who are in the industry all through
out,” said Reed.
“We’re watching what they had to do in North
Carolina, we’re working with people out in lowa
and Kansas and watching what’s going on out
there, from feed to aeration to cover to separators
and trying to soak it all in and come up with the best
things to use.
“We’re basically going anyplace that someone is
using the technology that might work for us.”
They also constantly get calls from representa
tives who want them to try new products. They
must weed through all the options to find the prod
ucts that really work.
Country View Family Farms oversees 26 sow
farms varying in size from 400 to more than 4,000.
Pleasant Valley Foods owns the pigs, Country View
Family Farms represents the interests of the pig
owners, and Hostetter Management Company has
been contracted by Country View Family Farms to
manage all their swine farms.
“There are a lot of contract finishers throughout
the state and nearly all of them are family farms,”
said Frame. “Even some of our sow farms are
owned by individuals and we contract them.”
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