Waste from agricultural feeding pens is a big problem in many rural areas.  And new environmental regulations mean farmers have to find a solution.  Geotube technology could be the best answer.

Testing at the University of Georgia and Auburn University has shown the promise of Geotube dewatering for agricultural applications.  And in-field use of Geotube agricultural systems, dubbed Geotube Nutrient Recovery Systems (NRS), indicates the technology can be particularly effective in hog farming.

The value of Geotube NRS is twofold--it not only manages waste and helps eliminate contamination from runoff, it consolidates solids into a form that can be easily recovered and either hauled off or applied to the land as fertilizer.

Another advantage of Geotube NRS technology is that unlike belt presses and other systems, there are no moving parts.  And Geotube NRS uses only a fraction of the land that a waste lagoon would use.  Better yet, a Geotube NRS system can even be loaded on a roll-off box and transported to different locations around the property.

"We're learning more and more about agricultural use of Geotube technology every day," said Tom Stephens, Vice President.  "This application is still very early in its development, but it is very viable already.  We're anxious to see how farmers are going to take advantage of this."

Stephens said new regulations affective concentrated animal feeding areas is spurring the development of Geotube dewatering in agricultural use.  "The regulations are an area of concern for many farmers, and even those who have developed lagoon systems understand the limitations of this approach.  "We know of one case where a farmer took out extra life insurance so his family would be able to clean up a lagoon on his property, if something were to happen to him," he said.

Stephens said Geotube NRS could help alleviate these problems.

"We're addressing the issue of runoff, and we're providing a way to recover useful nutrients, in a very cost-effective manner," he said.  "Management of wastes is still a new concept for many farms, but we think we have a system that prevents it from becoming a costly problem."