Crave Brothers Farm to display first manure digester

By Gloria Hafemeister for the Daily Times
Friday, June 22, 2007 10:10 PM CDT

An employee at Crave Brothers Farm loads the composted manure solids into a spreader to distribute in the new freestall barns on the farm. Since the completion of the digester the Craves are converting to all recycled material as bedding. The material that is not needed by Craves will be marketed to nurseries. (GLORIA HAFEMEISTER/Daily Times)

WATERLOO - “Peace of Mind through Organic Waste Management Solutions.” That's the philosophy of Clear Horizons, LLC, a company that recently completed its first manure digester on project manager Karl Crave's family's farm near Waterloo.

The farm is the newest sustainable biogas production facility in Wisconsin as well as the newest in the country to be operated entirely by remote control.

Karl Crave, who lives near his family's farm with his wife, Beth, monitors the entire digester system from a computer in his home. He then comes to the farm on a regular basis to perform routine maintenance.

“Farmers own most of the systems that are now on farms but then they need to hire someone just to maintain and manage the digester,” he said.

General manager Dan Nemke looked at what was being done in digesting at wastewater treatment plants and on farms and figured out how to make it a more profitable venture.

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He pointed out it is a big investment for farmers without a lot of return. He said that's because farmers' expertise is in farming, not marketing the products created by a digester.

The two hope to eventually have a digester system on six or eight farms. Nemke will concentrate on marketing the electricity and fiber while Crave will monitor and maintain the system. Farmers who provide the manure and the land will then be able to concentrate on farming but still have a practical manure management plan.

This system is designed, installed, owned, operated and maintained by Clear Horizons. PPC Partners is the parent company and also operates Pieper Electric, MetroPower and MP Systems.

Crave said because of the way the business is structured, there was a team of specialists to design and build the system. Pieper Electric did the electrical work and designed and built the control room. The entire system was checked out by the state electrical inspector.

Nemke grew up in a farming community and has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and master's in business from Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Crave has an agriculture business management degree and continues ownership of a painting business he started while still in high school. A longtime employee is carrying on the business and the painting company employees were also brought in to help with some work on the digester project.

“This is different because it is a partnership between the farmer and our company,” Crave said.

The farmer, in this case Crave Brothers Farms, has a way to manage the manure from the 700 cows they currently milk. The farm is in an expansion process that will include adding more cows to the herd and bringing all young stock home.

The digesting and separation process removes phosphorus from the manure, making it easier for farmers to comply with their nutrient management plans. The liquid portion of the digested and separated manure goes into a 10 million gallon pit and is used as fertilizer on the farm. Because of the digesting, 95 percent of the odor is gone, another benefit for the farmer.

Crave pointed out, “A farmer really needs to have at least 700 cows and the infrastructure and manure collection system needed for this to work, but technology has come a long way. I think this could be a win-win situation for farmers and for us.”

The Crave Brothers, in their expansion, designed their manure management system around this.

Clear Horizons, as owners, construct the digesting and separation system and sell electricity and the resulting bedding product.

Nemke, who came up with the concept, said, “We get about one-third of our revenue from the sale of the electricity that is created in the process.”

The digester creates enough electricity to power the entire Crave Brothers operation, including the cheese factory, and a bunch of homes but they explain the electric company pays a small amount for purchased power in order to obtain their “green credits” and then charges full price for power to customers like the Craves.

Those who have put in digesters in order to sell electricity have found it is not a profitable venture. So far the greatest benefit is the separated material and the manure management benefits.

Many producers have obtained special grants but this operation was done entirely without grant money.

While there is potential to meet energy demands by creating electricity or to make enough biogas that is equivalent to 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel, right now there is not enough money in it.

“Two-thirds of our income is from the sale of the bedding material,” Nemke said. “The Craves buy about half of it for bedding but the rest is mixed with perlite and vermiculite, bagged and marketed as a potting soil mix.”

Currently the product, under the Energro brand name, is being test marketed at eight locations including a location in Waterloo.

“The compost is tested and the nutrients are a close match to a synthetic fertilizer,” Crave added.

“The digester provides stable solids,” Crave said. “It destroys any pathogens and weed seeds that might be in manure that was composted or separated without digesting. When it is separated we keep it on piles for a week or so before it is used to make it more stable and consistent.”

He added, “There is also a difference in digesters. This is a complete mix and not plug-flow so the product coming out is more stable.”

He said because it is mixed and digested, the nutrients are always consistent.

The manure goes into a reception pit from the free stall barns and parlor by gravity flow. From there it goes into the digester and separator. The liquid portion then flows by gravity to the pit.

There will be a press conference at the farm Monday with a public tour Tuesday. The Crave Brothers farm is also making preparations to host the 2009 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days on their Dodge County farm.

There visitors will be able to see the extensive remodeling and expansion that is currently taking place at the farm along with the family's cheese factory and the digester.

The farm has been in business since 1978 and includes brothers Charles, George, Thomas and Mark and their families.

“This really is a family farm,” Karl Crave said. “We have to be this big to support all the family members and employees who work here. Everyone gets involved in some way.”

His wife has professional training as a chef and currently helps market Crave Brothers' farmstead cheese.