Case Studies

This hog farm had a concrete lagoon system that had a completely encrusted surface that caused problems with pumping and field application of the manure. Odor was a problem.

The Agrotel Company owns and operates a wholesale agricultural supply company as well as a swine farm in Moca, Dominican Republic. The farm maintains 450 to 500 sows and approximately 10,000 piglets. The barn wash-down and manure wastewater is collected, the solids are separated for feed and fertilizer, and the wastewater flows into a lagoon. There is no surface exit for runoff, but water does percolate through the soil and emit odors downstream.

McClellan Farms is a contract grower for Country View Family Farms (CVFF). The farm consists of two 2100-head finishing operations and one 8800-head nursery operation. The swine in these three buildings produce close to 2.5 million gallons of manure each year that must be managed efficiently.

This twenty-year old farm consisted of several barns each of which was equipped with two 242-gallon rinse tanks that were used to flush the pit area under the barns twice daily. The manure pits discharged to a 5.5 million gallon lagoon. The lagoon was not meeting the discharge permit levels. Examination determined that there was no presence of biological activity in the lagoon and the solids build-up on the lagoon surface was at a critical level. H2S odor was so severe that plant employees were often unable to perform their duties because of respiratory problems and eye irritation.

Located nine miles north of Ipswich, SD, this hog operation utilizes multiple barns and maintains approximately 10,000 hogs on site. The hog operation manager, Larry Wipf, is an experienced, well‐seasoned operator. The barns operate on a pull–plug manure collection system with all the hog waste draining to a common pumping station approximately 100 feet north of the 750,000 gallon concrete holding pit. The level of waste in this pit is maintained at a pre‐set level and as that level is exceeded, a pumping station approximately 30 feet to the west of the pit, automatically pumps the excess to the lagoon system. The lagoon system consists of two large lagoons set‐ up in sequence. The primary lagoon effluent is gravity fed to the second lagoon via an installed culvert system. The secondary lagoon is pumped yearly and the effluent is land applied by a pivot irrigation system.

This was a CVFF contracted sow farm constructed with shallow manure pits in two barns, each followed by million gallon collection pits.

Swartz Family Farm works 400 acres. For over 12 years this farm has contracted with Country View Family Farms (CVFF) as a finisher operating a 2180 head finishing hog barn with a total deep pit volume of 800,000 gallons.

The Brubaker Farm includes 600 acres where Jim Brubaker contracts as a grower for Country View Family farms (CVFF). His facility includes a number of deep 500,000-gallon manure pits. Jim also grows 5-600 acres of corn for feed or sale.

Pfleegor Farm is a contract grower for Country View Family Farms (CVFF), one of the largest swine farm co-ops in the United States. Gary Pfleegor operates a compact 15 acre, two-barn facility on a land tract that includes his personal home. The swine farm is relatively new and Gary has incorporated some of the latest technologies to optimize efficiency. His barns are kept in excellent condition. They are cleaned and the surfaces sanitized following each “grow cycle” to minimize potential problems within each production colony.

Hatfield Farm is a producer for Country View Family Farms (CVFF), a subsidiary of Hatfield Quality Meats Company of Pennsylvania. CVFF is one of the largest swine co-ops in the United States with over 200 grow farms and 50 sow facilities. Working closely with their growers, CVFF is constantly working on technologies to improve efficiency.