Greenacres Foundation CASE STUDY

Greenacres Foundation is an educational non-profit and biodynamic farm located on nearly 600 acres north of Cincinnati. Their mission is to encourage conservation and appreciation of nature by providing the public, particularly children, with opportunities to learn about agriculture and wildlife. Onsite is a farm, a farm store, as well as a substantial equine/riding program that generates about 4 yards of manure and bedding on a daily basis. Greenacres also generates chicken manure and bedding, plant trimmings from their greenhouse operations, lawn clippings and food scraps from visitors and staff. Greenacres needed a better way to quickly turn these farm-generated wastes into a valuable compost product.

GMT recommended a 40’x12’ Site-Built Earth Flow system for Green Acres, which can compost around 6 yards of material per day. The Earth Flow system provides optimum conditions for hot, aerobic composting. This dramatically reduces the time required for horse manure composting from 6-12 months to 10-14 days (additional curing time of 1-2 months is recommended after).  GMT provided the design guidance to the client, architect and contractor. GMT installed the Earth Flow automated mixing and aeration technologies inside their vessel. Greenacres also designed covered storage areas for feedstocks and curing compost.