Work has started at the first of seven remaining P.S.F. sites scheduled for the new technology. The company expects to complete the installations at all seven farms no later than July 31, 2012.
Last April, the final technologies being implemented, barn scrapers and the sustainable-technology systems, were approved by the court-appointed management advisory team.
Thus far P.S.F. has spent approximately $40 million implementing improved environmental technologies, including lagoon covers and land-application technologies, equipment and practices that are among the most advanced in the U.S. Barn odor was the final issue that needed to be addressed by next-generation technology.
"We are moving ahead with an aggressive implementation schedule for this final phase, which represents our company's commitment as good environmental stewards to reduce odor from our farms," said Bill Homann, P.S.F. president. "When we complete our work on these remaining farms, we're confident that P.S.F.’s Missouri operations will have clearly demonstrated that we're a world leader in the advancement of agricultural environmental technologies.
In 1999, P.S.F. began a 10-year effort to reduce barn odor, which proved to be the most challenging aspect of the entire process. The company researched and field tested at least 13 different technologies to address barn odor, all under the oversight of the independent management advisory team. Those research efforts resulted in the recent development of barn scrapers and the sustainable-technology system.
P.S.F. has worked cooperatively with the management advisory team and the state of Missouri in an unprecedented development of new, advanced technologies to reduce odor and address other environmental issues associated with animal agriculture during the past decade.
