Perdue Farms has made a $12 million capital investment in its Delaware composting operation.
The AgriSoil composting facility, which started operation next to Perdue AgriRecycle’s organic fertilizer plant in Blades, increases the company’s capacity to handle surplus poultry litter from Delmarva chicken farms and adds the capability to recycle other agricultural by-products that were previously applied to land, a release stated.
Blades is located outside Seaford.
AgriSoil can compost poultry litter as well as by-products such as treated biosolids from poultry plant wastewater, and organic material like soybean stems.
With the addition of the composting operation, Perdue expects to nearly double the amount of litter and byproducts recycled and relocated to an estimated 80,000 tons per year. Perdue AgriRecycle, which celebrated its 15th anniversary in 2016, has processed more than a billion pounds of poultry litter.
“Our company depends upon farmers, and we all want to protect the bay,” said Randy Day, chief operating officer, Perdue Farms. “The $80 million we’ve spent so far on nutrient recycling demonstrates our commitment to supporting the economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture and family farms on Delmarva.”
As is the case with poultry waste, other by-products have been applied to land, presenting the same risk for nutrient run-off into rivers and Chesapeake Bay. Delaware’s inland bays have also been an area of concern.
“Fifteen years ago, Perdue saw the coming need for an environmentally friendly alternative to land application of poultry litter and built Perdue AgriRecycle,” said Steve Levitsky, vice president of Sustainability for Perdue Farms. “Now, we’re taking the same proactive approach to a broader range of byproducts.”
“The Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy is always looking for solutions to water quality problems caused by excess nutrients,” said Jeffrey Horstman, executive director and Miles-Wye Riverkeeper. “We commend and want to support the efforts of Perdue in their new Agrisoil and existing AgriRecycle initiatives. These efforts, investments and new technologies will reduce water pollution from excess nutrients on the Delmarva, which is very much in line with our mission.”
The AgriSoil process mixes raw material with wood and water from Perdue AgriRecycle’s scrubbers. A special fabric covers the mixture, trapping odors and promoting a natural composting function that breaks down the mixture and destroys pathogens and weed seeds, a company release stated.
The process takes 60 to 70 days, naturally heating to 140 to 165 degrees for an extended period of time. The end result is a high-quality composted soil.
The final product will be marketed for commercial use and to distributors of consumer lawn-and-garden products. The compost is suitable for improving sandy soils, restoring depleted soils, and as a seedbed.
Perdue Farms is based in Salisbury, MD, with the Agribusiness operation slated to move its headquarters to a location just across the state line from Salisbury in Delaware.
Perdue Agribusiness traces its origins the original Perdue family farm and its business of selling feed and chicks. As the company expanded, grain storage, a soybean mill, grain merchandising and other businesses were added.
