PRINCETON, Mo. (AP) — A Smithfield Foods subsidiary has announced a joint venture to turn hog manure into energy at its farms in northern Missouri.
Murphy-Brown of Missouri is providing the manure to produce biogas, a fuel similar to natural gas. Roeslein Alternative Energy will manage the project and secure financing for the $100-million project. Murphy-Brown, the world’s largest pork producer, was formerly called Premium Standards Farm.
The Kansas City Star reports the deal will have Murphy-Brown scraping the manure into lagoons where the waste will decompose and produce gas. Installation of pumps, pipelines and other processing equipment is anticipated to start next spring.
“This is a really exciting project for our company,” said Bill Holman, director of administration and compliance for Murphy-Brown. “We’re pretty good pig farmers and this makes us better.”
Roeslein will manage the biogas operation and sell the fuel. The company claims among other things that the biogas project will produce fewer greenhouse gases and reduce Murphy-Brown’s carbon footprint.
“Environmental benefits from this project will be significant,” Rudi Roeslein, president of Roeslein told The Star.
Murphy-Brown has farms in five counties in northern Missouri that have 112,000 sows producing pigs that eventually become pork chops, ham and bacon. The Missouri operation, which is based in Princeton, has 1,070 employees.
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