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Field of Dreams

Karl Crave explains how the processed manure in the biogas energy plant is later used as a fertilizer.

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[[ Karl Crave-Crave Brothers Farm ]]

[So behind me are the manure haulers]

[here at the Crave Brothers Farm. ]

[They're loading up the manure to take to the fields.]

[It's gone through the digestive process,]

[so we've removed some of the fiber.]

[We're currently agitating and stirring out and pumping out ]

[the liquid out of the lagoon]

[to put on their crops to grow the crops]

[in order to obtain all the nutrients the crops need to grow the plants]

[we then feed to the cows.]

[Right now, they're pumping into the 7000-gallon semi truck ]

[which will deliver it to the field where the tractor and hose]

[will inject it into the soil.]

[By injecting it directly into the soil, ]

[the nutrients are available for the crops]

[to use right when they need it,]

[so they will grow fater and bigger]

[and be more productive to the benefit of the cows.]

[We're located here at the remote field location]

[where the semi tankers filled with the nutrient-rich manure]

[is delivered into a remote pump and hopper.]

[That pump driven by the small tractor]

[pumps that manure through a 6-inch, very durable hose]

[over the ground and delivers it to the tractor applying it to the field.]

[[sounds of farm machinery working]]

[One of the main benefits of the manure digester]

[is it eliminates the majority of the odor in the manure.]

[This allows the farmers to have good public relations with their neighbors]

[and apply the nutrients to the fields when they need them.]

[This is a good example of a truck unloading]

[with very little odor in the area and no complaints from neighbors.]

[[sounds of farm machinery working]]

[We're now out at the corn field at the Crave Brothers Farm]

[where they're applying the manure for the fertilizer]

[to grow the corn that they will be planting here in the next couple of weeks.]

[So as you can see, the tractor drives very slowly with the hose behind it.]

[That hose carries the manure from main booster pump]

[to the field to minimize the compaction of vehicles on the field.]

[Less compaction means better growing crops]

[and more productive fields.]

[The tractor will apply about 700 gallons of manure per minute to this field,]

[and it'll inject it with the fork.]

[So, it not only applies the manure, but it also works it into the ground.]

[By doing this, it keeps the nutrients in the soil]

[where the crops and the corn can utilize the nutrients.]

[[sounds of farm machinery working]]

[This manure application equipment utilizes the most]

[advanced equipment in what they call precision farming.]

[It utilizes GPS--Global Positioning System technology--]

[to map out the field. ]

[The farmer analyzes the nutrients the crops need]

[that'll be grown on this field,]

[and the tractor drives at a speed]

[that applies the manure at the exact rate]

[the plants need in order to grow.]

[[sounds of farm machinery working from a distance]]