The Rural Voice, 1980-11, Page 6Energy
on the farm
Les Emery has formed a farmers' co-op, with the aim
of saving energy and making money at the same time
BY ADRIAN VOS
Why are farmers not putting up their own stills to make fuel
for their vehicles right on the farm? The answer is simply that a
small still is not economical.
The purchase price of the still, or the material to build one,
and the fuel and labor needed for its operation can't be justified
on a small scale.
But then there is Les Emery ,a farmer from Roseneath in
Northumberland County.
The founding principal of the University of Waterloo, Dr.
Emery has formed a co-op of 30 farmers and convinced them to
invest 510,000 each to form a co-operative with the aim of saving
energy and make money at the same time.
Dr. Emery reasons there is a close relationship between
fertilizer (energy needed by plants) and fuel (ene rgy needed by
vehicles). He has also heard reports that monoculture, as
practiced in Ontario and elsewhere, is killing the soil. He has told
farmers at many meetings that continuous corn production in
Manitoba resulted in fields devoid of earthworms and soil
bacteria. He adds this also occurs in Kent County and in eastern
Ontario. A by-product of the Toss of organic structure through
monoculture, he claims, is that three times the usual
horse -power is need to plow "dead" soil.
AN EXAGGERATION
Dr. Les Evans, who teaches land resource science at the
University of Guelph , told Rural Voice these claims are vastly
exaggerated. He said, "It is definitely not true that earthworms
and soil bacteria are dying as a result of modern farming
methods". He thinks the practice of burning straw and use of
large equipment have caused more trouble in the west.
Whatever the validity of the different views, Les Emery thinks
that he has found the solution to combat soil deterioration. His
30 -farmer co-op has used its $300,000 to construct a plant to
make compost as a replacement for the petroleum-based
fertilizers.
He criticizes petroleum-based fertilizer for wasting energy,
and being so inefficient that 75 per cent of its value is lost
through evaporation and erosion. "If it is applied in the form of
anhydrous ammonia it leaches minerals from the soil", he
added.
This claim is contested by Dr. Evans, 'who said the worst
possible result from anhydrous ammonia is some acidity ot the
soil, maybe after 10 years of application. "This," he declared,
"can be easily rectified by adding some lime to the soil."
ALL AGREE TO EMERY'S SOLUTION
Although Dr. Emu's claims arc control ir.l. one of his
solutions is working. His co-op produces its own fertilizer in the
form ot compost on a pace -competitive basis. i IiLy process
garbage, waste from processing plants, and manure and sewage
sludge in their plant.
The co-op gets paid by municipalities for receiving the
garbage. since dumping it at the Colborne plant costs Tess than
the maintenance of a landfill site. These "tipping" payments
alone cover all plant operating costs.
Dr. Emery suggested, tongue in cheek . . . . that one day it
would pay to dig up all old landfill sites for conversion into
fertilizer.
The end product is a superior black soil, rich in all plant
nutrients. One tonne of the compost contains 50 lbs. of ntirogen.
Dr. Emery says, in a form directly available to plants.
He told farmers at a meeting in Huron county recently the first
crops of corn from composted fields were harvested last year in
Northumberland, "and the farmers just loved it", he added.
With some government assistance, the co-op produced 250
tonnes last year, then gave it to farmers for plant growth.
The shareholders in the co-op are saving from the start, Dr.
Emery asserts, for the cost of a share unit is lower than the cost
of artificial fertilizer.
When the municipal waste arrives at the plant it goes through
a garbage sorter developed by the co-op, which separates
organic matter from solids. Tin cans are crushed and sold_for
recycling. Everything leaving the plant is useful and sold,
Dr. Emery says proudly.
The organic matter is emulsified with water to be made into
the desired compost.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
But, he warned, some sludge from industrial towns may not be
acceptable, because it may contain chemicals or heavy metals.
Dr. Evans fully agrees that composting is the ideal way of
maintaining soil structure, especially today, when some south
western Ontario soil has reached a critical stage. Lacking this, he
said, crop rotation is prescribed for many soils.
Producing fertilizers from natural gas and chemical extraction
PG. 4 THE RURAL VOICE/NOVEMBER 1980