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Matthew FreundApril 2, 2015
Making Manure More Valuable
Than Milk
“and it doesn’t even stink”
CowPots Factory
200 acres pastureland400 acres add’l cropland200 acres forestland
Blac
kber
ry R
iver
Barns and Farm house
Route 44
Lagoon
Farm Market
Neighbor
Neighbor
Freund’s Farm, Inc.A family farm since 1949
The Dairy Situation
Reduce input costs:
–Rotational Grazing/Cropping
–Energy efficient lights/coolers
–Recycling
–Renewable Energies-methane and solar
Increase farm income:
–Diversification
–Forest management
–Value added production
Adjusting the price/cost ‘gap’ on our farm
Manure on our farm
Renewable•100 lbs/cow EVERYDAY
Recycled•Collect and burn methane•Apply separated liquids as fertilizer•Use solids for value added production– Additional solids used as cow bedding
Reducing our carbon hoof print
• Northeast SARE
• CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection
• CT Department of Agriculture
• USDA NRCS EQIP
• USDA Rural Development
• USDA SBIR
Turning cow pies into CowPots with grant funding from:
Proven Winners
• Adding value to dairy byproduct for a profit
• Managing excess nutrients• Green alternative for growers
Benefits of Growing in CowPots
•Root penetration
•Air pruning
•3 month shelf life
•No tearing or crushing
•No plastic waste
Cont’d…Benefits
• Peat Free
• 100% Renewable
• American made
• Zero-waste stream manufacturing facility
12 CowPots sizes + custom
The Proof is in the Poo
"At the end of the season, manure-based containers had nearly completely degraded (88 percent), while straw, wood fiber, soil wrap, peat, coir, and rice hull degraded 18-47 percent."
And, how do you sell $#!*?
Growing production of CowPots
www.cowpots.com