Monpiero is no ordinary farm

by Jindra Rutherford

Monpiero is no ordinary farm

By Jindra Rutherford

>From Cedar Point Road it may look like a typical postcard picture of
a farm. But Monpiero at Concession 15 is no typical farm. Monpiero is
an outstanding example of progressive, innovative and environmentally
responsible farming.

The farm had its beginnings in the early 1800s when the present
occupants' French great-grandfather had come from Quebec to settle in
the area of Lafontaine. Today Montcalm Maurice and his sons,
Pierre-Paul and Robert, represent the third and fourth generations
working the farm. I was puzzled by the name of the farm and asked my
guide, Pierre-Paul Maurice - who also happens to be Tiny Township's
Deputy Fire Chief - for an explanation. Monpiero, I learned, is a
composite of the first syllables of three names:
Montcalm, Pierre-Paul and Robert.

Why is their farm so special that it was singled out for the 1998
award by the Severn Sound Remedial Action group? The following is the
text of the award plaque:

Presented to Monpiero Farms Ltd. in recognition of your outstanding
dedication to the research and demonstration of new milk-house
waste-water treatment technology

Two major innovations lend distinction to the farm: the
"flocculator", which treats the wash water from the milk-house, and
the contained manure pit, which prevents leaching of liquid manure
into the environment. Some 100 to 110 head of Holstein cattle produce
a heap of manure. To be exact, 1500 tons a year.

To demonstrate the treatment process, Pierre-Paul guides me to the
milking barn, constructed in 1945. For the foundations, the builders
had used the French-Canadian method of stack walls, i.e. using cedar
blocks stacked like cordwood and held together by mortar.

As we enter the barn I see 56 cows, ruminating contentedly while a
radio station pipes in music and talk. The nearest cows turn their
heads curiously and focus their beautiful big eyes on us.

Their diet is comprised of haylage (hay with 65%-75% moisture
content), silage (crushed corn), alfalfa, roasted soybeans and
barley. Each cow's diet is tailor-made, taking into account her
weight and milk production. Agri-Food Laboratories in Guelph help
determine the right proportion of protein, fibre and energy needed by
each cow.

Behind the row of stalls runs a gutter, or a trough, from which the
manure is channelled by an underground hydraulic system into the
manure pit. Made entirely of concrete, the nine-foot deep pit
measures 110' by 95'. Usually in spring, the liquid manure is pumped
out and spread on the fields. Solid manure is then loaded into a
spreader and hauled out. As it is being spread, a kind of beater
breaks it down into smaller chunks. With 15 tons of manure per acre
of corn, there is usually no need for other chemicals except,
perhaps, a starter fertilizer when planting. As for other fields,
soil analysis will indicate how much fertilizer should be used to
arrive at the optimum amount.

Every ounce of manure is thus put to good use, cutting down on
chemical fertilizers and minimizing contamination of the environment.
This benefit is considerable. Monpiero farm comprises 124-150 acres
of corn, 170-175 acres of alfalfa, 200 acres of soybeans, and 75-95
acres of barley.

Closely connected to the manure pit is the "jewel in the crown" of
Monpiero farm: the flocculator. Webster's dictionary defines
flocculation a "separation of suspended solids during waste water
treatment by chemically created clumps of flocs." Floc is a "fine,
flaky precipitate."

Pierre-Paul guides me to the milk house containing a collection of
six milking units, a gleaming white milk tank from which 2,800 litres
of milk are pumped out every other day, and a covered sump into which
the wash water from milking equipment is drained. From there it goes
into the flocculator tank in the next room. Here, a metal box,
suspended above the tank, adds lime to the waste water. Phosphorous
and fat particles are attracted to the lime. The mixture is then
agitated for 30 minutes and allowed to settle for two hours.
Particles and lime, being heavier, settle at the bottom to produce
sludge which is piped into the manure pit. The water extracted from
the waste is almost clear and can be sent safely to the weeping
bed and be absorbed into the ground. Fat, on the other hand, breaks
down slowly and would soon clog the tile bed.

There is yet another example of Monpiero's recycling: the heat,
generated by the cooling process in the milk tank, preheats the water
in the hot water tank to be ready for the next, twice-daily washing
of the milking equipment ….and the cycle starts again.

As I am leaving Pierre-Paul sums up the farm's philosophy when he
says, "A lot of times manure is looked upon as waste. We like to look
on it as a resource."

And that is why Monpiero Farms Ltd. received an award for their
dedication to the protection of the environment.