All About Abbie and Katie

Abbie and Katie are full sisters.  They are registered Percherons.  Katie was foaled April 6, 2002 and Abbie was born April 6, 2000.  They both have the same birthday!

They were born in West Liberty, Ohio where breeders Roy and Patsy Bragg had a 10-mare breeding operation.  I was able to track them down, and they were delighted to find out where their "girls" were and what they were doing.

The Braggs ended their breeding operation and in 2006 the girls were sold at auction.  Since that time, the girls have lived and worked in Michigan, Florida, North Carolina and New York.  When I started looking for a team, I saw dealer Erin Lundy's advertisement, went up to see the girls, and knew they were a perfect match for our operation.

They are now Jersey Girls!

Draft Horses

Draft horses are the gentle giants of the horse world.  Most riding horses range from 14.3 hands at the shoulder to 16.2 hands.  A hand = 4 inches.  So that translates to 5 feet to 5 1/2 feet at the shoulder.  A racehorse, bred for speed can gallop at 25 m.p.h.  Most weight 1200 lbs.  A draft horse -- most are 6 feet at the shoulder, have massive feet, typically weight 1700-200 lbs, and top speed?  12 m.p.h.  Draft horses are made to carry and pull heavy loads.

There are many draft breeds, but the most prevalant are the Clydesdale (the Budweiser horses), Belgians, and Percherons.



Belgian



Percheron

Clydesdale

Percherons

In the early part of the 1900s, when people spoke about draft horses -- they usually meant Percherons.  Percherons were the most numerous draft horses in the US at that time -- they outnumbered other breeds 3 to 1. 

Percherons were originally imported into the U.S. from Perche region in France, starting in the late 1800s.  The breed evolved from the breeding of captured Arabian horses to native French draft horses.

From late 1800-early 1900, the U.S. was dependant on imported horses.  Early in World War I, the U.S. breeding started in earnest.  The war demanded agricultural products, so Percherons were vital in the war effort, since at that time only horses were used in farming. 

Percherons were also used in the war on the front lines.  While there were motorized war vehicles, horses were more reliable to pull men and artillery into fighting positions.

Now, we don't realize how dependant the American economy was on the use of horses.  Horses were used for circuses, delivery of ice, milk, coal, oil, furniture and other househood goods, as well as farming. 

But, the rise of tractors and trucks pushed out the use of horses.  By 1948 the days of horsedrawn agriculture were over.

Some interesting numbers: 

• In Chicago, 1916, there were 49,682 licensed horse-drawn vehicles and 7,384 licensed trucks.
• In 1930, there were 33,033 registered Percherons, 8,841 registered Belgians, 1,454 registered Clydesdales and 1,506 registered Shires. 

About the Breed

The Arabian influence gives Percheron horses an elegance not found in other draft breeds.  They are smart, hardy animals.  About 30% of Percherons will turn gray as they age, the rest are black.  Here is a picture of Abbie and Katie in 2006 when they were much darker. 

Ellis McFarland in 1937 said of Percherons:  "The Percheron has the widest appeal of any of the draft breeds as an all-around farm horse.  The expression, attitude and action of this strong and diligent draft horse suggest strength, energy, activity, robustness and endurance. ... He is naturally an up-headed horse with a great deal of sense.  His disposition has no equal.  A study of his head is enough to indicate to any horseman his unusual intelligence."

Abbie and Katie are considered to be "old style" or farm-type Percherons.  Most Percheron breeders work now towards a show horse, more of a strong, more elegant carriage type horse. 

The Urban Horse



Urban Horses - Abbie and Katie coming back to the plant

Horses can be well-kept in urban areas.  When I was in my 20s, I worked for the famed Claremont Riding Academy in New York City.  The Claremont had about 100 horses on the West Side, close to Central Park.  People could rent horses to ride in Central Park as well as take riding lessons.  I worked there as a groom (tacking and caring for the horses), and I learned to jump in their small ring.  Originally the Claremont was a hack stable -- the carriages were kept on the main level and the horses kept upstairs and downstairs. 

Many draft horse owners, such as Amish farmers, keep their horses in tie or straight stalls.  The horses are tied, can lie down.  If horses work all day, they are happy to stand and lie down in one spot.  It also is more efficient for bedding and stall cleanup. 

I like horses to be able to move around in their stalls, so Abbie and Katie have 12x16 stalls.  They can lie down to nap (haven't gotten a picture of that yet).  Their stalls connect, so they can touch and nuzzle each other.  We use pine shavings for bedding and have rubber mats on the concrete in the stalls, as well as where we harness them.  We feed them NJ timothy hay, and use a 12% protein pelleted feed.  They eat a lot!  Each eats at least a bale of hay a day.  Abbie and Katie's Home



Abbie in her Stall

 

Abbie getting harnessed

We also lease a 1/4 acre plot of land just up the street from our main plant.  The girls get turned out to do horsey stuff.  Their favorite thing to do is roll.  After about two hours, they are ready to come back to their stalls.  The neighbors I've talked to, enjoy having horses in their front yard. 



The paddock



Enjoying a good roll

Most horses in the U.S. are pets - occasionally ridden for pleasure.  Some horses have show careers, others are breeding animals.  A small number are used commercially.

My mother and I had a riding school and trail ride business in Havre de Grace, Maryland for 15 years, as well as a saddlery.  Our horses worked for a living (maybe 2 hours a day).  I learned alot during that time, from managing my own animals, taking lessons, as well as learning from others.

I believe if you own an animal, whether it is a cat, dog, snake, or horse -- a responsibile owner educates themselves about the needs of the animal, takes care of the animal, and trains the animal to do it's job (whatever that is). 

The girls wear steel shoes with borium studs, to help them grip the road.  Our farrier is Whitney Richards.  Whitney Pulling Katie's Shoe



Whitney fitting a shoe on Katie

Our vets are Town and Country Veterminary Service, who specialize in horses.  Horses need to have yearly vaccinations, get a Coggins test, as well as have their teeth cared for. 

Horses are large animals.  If not shown what they want, if not managed properly; they can hurt themselves or hurt someone.  Horses are social animals.  They like to be around others.  If you establish yourself as the herd leader, they will do your bidding, and are content knowing what is expected of them.  Routine is good.  Exercise is good.  Work is good.

Abbie and Katie have been farm horses as well as carriage horses.  They know when their harness goes on, it is work time.  They like to work.  When we take them out to the street, they are eager to get out and about.  They enjoy seeing the sights (although they don't like floating plastic bags!!) and enjoy attention from people. 

In their stalls, they love to be groomed, have their bellies and behinds scratched.  They are affectionate and kind.  They nicker to us in greeting in the morning.

The longest we let the girls work is four hours.  We've been taking them out 3-4 times a week, usually for 2-3 hours at a time.  They are very capable of working 8 hours a day as they get fitter -- just like you and I.  Right now pulling a carriage is not hard work for them.  They usually are walking, with some trotting in between to build up their wind and stamina.

About Black Soldier Flies

Background

I discovered Black Soldier Flies ('BSF') almost 5 years ago when I was researching organic farming practices.  I came across a paper Using the Black Soldier Fly, Hermetia illucens, as a Value-Added Tool for the Management of Swine Manure, written by entomologist and animal and dairy PhDs at the University of Georgia and North Carolina State University.

I knew about earthworms "eating" food waste (they don't really eat food waste); but had never heard about BSFs. 

I immediately saw the commercial possibilities for handling factory farm manures and food waste.

Since then, I've read every scientific paper I could find, books, articles, talked with fellow BSF growers, to learn about these fantastic creatures. 

Our earth is an amazing organism.  Everything is recycled.  In the natural course of things, every plant and animal becomes, at some point, food for something else. 

The most used methods right now to recycle food waste are composting and anaerobic digesters.  Both use nature as well. Good composting is where the materials have the right carbon/nitrogen mix and you let natural bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes do their thing -- they break down the materials.  Link about Composting

Digesters use specific species of bacteria to eat the waste in a non-oxygen environment.  As the bacteria eat the food, they produce methane, which can be used for energy production.

Both of these methods are good, but have their drawbacks.  Composting can take months to break down the material.  Digesters are very finicky systems, expensive to set up and run. 

Most of us have seen the horror movies were the rotting corpse has maggots feasting away.  Disgusting.  Horrifying.  Nasty.  Well, essentially, that's what BSF larvae are.  It isn't horrifying or nasty -- it's a very important part of nature's cycle. 

BSF larvae eat just about anything.  They can't eat cellulose.  If you give them a piece of meat, they will eat all the soft bits, and leave the network of connective tissue.  They do the same with a leaf of lettuce -- all the soft part of the leaf is eaten, with the web of the leaf structure left.  The don't care if it's raw or cooked, has fungus, mold or is rotten.  However, BSF can't handle anaerobic conditions (no oxygen).

Black Soldier Fly Life Cycle

Larvae - BSF spend most of their active life as larvae.  When they hatch out, they are tiny little specks.  They crawl from where the egg cluster is to the nearest food.  From then on, all they do is eat, eat, eat.  BSF larvae can eat twice their weight in a day and they can go from a tiny speck to almost an inch long within 2-3 weeks.  The larvae hate the light.  They can handle wet conditions.  They love it hot -- 80 degrees Fahrenheit is good, but 90-100 is even better!

Pupation - As the larvae reach maturity, they go from a light cream color to dark brown.  They start hunting for a dark, dry place to pupate.  Once in pupation, they are still.  Inside they are busy turning into a fly.  When they become a fly, they chew a whole in their old outer skin, and emerge into the world.

Fly - When they are adults, their mission is to mate and lay eggs.  The males stake out a territory and defend it against other males.  The female will mate, the next day lay an egg cluster of 300-600 eggs, then die.  The male will live 6-8 days.  During their adult lives they don't eat.  The adults like hot, humid conditions.

Using BSF for Food Waste Recycling

There are two significant benefits to using BSF for food waste recycling:

1.  The BSF will eat the food immediately.  If you have enough BSF larvae for the food waste to be recycled, it can "disappear" in a day.  The BSF will leave some of the food waste behind.  The tough parts of foods:  fruit rinds, potato skins, connective tissues get left.  The BSF activity actually generates heat.  The "leavings" mixed with the BSF poo quickly becomes a compost-like material.

2.  What the BSF larvae can be turned into.  The larvae body is composed of 32% oil and 43% protein.  The oil is suitable as a stock for biodiesel; the protein is suitable for agricultural feeds like fish meal.

The Core of Our Research and Development

During the next two years, we will be working on the following:

1.  Growing our BSF population to commercial size.  Our goal is to work on our fly-breeding process and get a self-sustaining population that can process one ton of food waste a day.

2.  Testing our prototype equipment. 

3.  Test our larvae-rendering equipment and process.

There are other things we will be working on in parallel to the BSF research and development, but this is the core of our business model.

About Green Waste Technologies

Purpose of Blog

The purpose of this blog is to share information with the general public, residential food waste recycling participants, customers and others interested in food waste recycling.

Food waste recycling in New Jersey is limited. Most food waste ends up in burn facilities, trucked out of state or in landfills.

Green Waste Technologies ("GWT") is the second Class C food waste recycler in New Jersey. We will operate under a Research, Development and Demonstration Permit.

Our R&D focuses on using the Black Soldier Fly ("BSF") to recycle food waste. We feed the food waste to the larvae (maggot) of this species of fly. When the larvae are at their full size, right before they pupate and turn into an adult fly, the larvae are harvested and processed into biofuel oil and protein meal.

We are not the first to do this. There are several other companies doing the same thing. Enviroflight, located in Ohio, is using BSF to process spent brewers grains. I've talked with the owner, Glen, and they are to the point of getting approvals for their fish meal from the FDA.

GWT's goals in the coming two years is to ramp up our BSF population to commercial scale, test our process and prototype equipment, then test our rendering process and prototype equipment.

Our Startup Saga

Getting a recycling business started in New Jersey is challenging. I wanted to locate the business in my town, Plainfield. First, I went to Plainfield's Zoning Board of Adjustment for approval for recycling with BSF in the light industrial zone. Since it is a new use, it wasn't covered in the land use ordinance. The board ruled it was a manufacturing use, so I was cleared to look at buildings in the light industrial zones in town.

Now, I had to find a building. I engaged Richard Galuppo from NAI DeLeo-Bram & Co., a commercial realtor. It took us 6 months of a lot of landlords saying 'No' (I guess flies and food waste made them nervous!) until I found our current location. DSC of Newark owns the old Mack Truck industrial complex.

Next, I went to the Plainfield City Council and requested a Resolution in support of the business. For anything related to solid waste or recycling, you must get city, council, then state approvals. The council saw the long-term potential for employment, and voted unanimously in favor.

With that in hand, the next hurtle was getting a Certificate of Occupancy for the space. That ended up taking 13 months of wrangling with the landlord, the City Planner and attorneys. But, in the end, it got done. During that time the space was scraped and power washed, and everything was painted. The landlord installed a new sprinkler system and we made other improvements to bring the space up to code.

While the CO drama was going on, I wrote up the actual Application for the RD&D recycling certificate. The laws for a normal facility are pages and pages long. For a RD&D facility, the rules are one page. The Application narrative was 17 pages with pages of exhibits.

After we got the CO, now it was time to apply to the Union County Utilities Authority. They are the agency responsible for anything related to solid waste in the county. Their engineers and lawyers reviewed the application, and made the recommendation to the Authority Commissioners to approve our application. We received that approval and the UCUA sent a letter to the NJ DEP requesting approval of our application and inclusion into the County Solid Waste Plan on June 3, 2013. Link to Documents

The NJDEP Planning Department approved our application. We are now listed as a Solid Waste Facility on the NJDEP's website. Shortly we will have our air quality permit, and we will be ready to start operations.

What's Going on Now

For the past two months we've been going through the streets of Dunellen, Plainfield and Greenbrook asking residents to sign up for a residential food waste pilot. I went before the Dunellen City Council to get their blessing and I've met with the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority's Director, Dan Williamson to share information about the pilot goals.

We have also met with the town of Woodbridge, which has agreed to participate in a residential pilot. Soon we will be meeting with officials from the town of Morristown to discuss a pilot there.

The main goals of the pilot are:

• determine how much food waste different size households produce
• determine what amount of solid waste is left, after recycling food waste, plastics, paper, and metals
• determine how many homes/distance a team of horses and wagon can cover in a route

Right now the only residential food waste recycling pilots going on are in Princeton, NJ and in New York, NY. I think people are realizing money can be saved if food waste is recycled. The big question is how to make it easy for the resident and affordable. We want to collect data from different locations, so we can calculate the potential savings.

We're going to use one, two, and three and a half gallon buckets. Residents will put their bucket out and we will pick it up and leave a clean bucket in its place. Back at the plant we will clean out the bucket, capture any of the food scraps for recycling.

Why Horses?

A garbage truck is expensive to run. Easily a garbage truck with two or three workers can cost $110/hr to run. Garbage trucks were designed for mixed solid waste pickup -- lots of volume. Food waste is dense and wet. Putting just food waste into a garbage truck can lead to leaking, stinking trucks and make food waste pickup expensive.

Running a team of horses with two employees costs less than half of a garbage truck. The food waste can be put into containers on the wagon. Our wagon can hold three tons of food waste. Our team of Percheron mares -- Abbie and Katie -- who weight 1700 lbs, can pull 5 times their weight. So, the girls could handle a loaded vehicle with 8.5 tons of food waste. Not shabby!

We aren't the first to think of using horses. In Bristol, Vermont, Pat Palmer has been picking up the town's trash for the last 8 years with his team of Percheron geldings. Picking up Garbage with Horses YouTube Video

In France, 60 towns are using horses for garbage and recycling pickup. French Towns Using Horses for Garbage Pickup

The biggest concerns have been about horse poo and traffic. The girls wear a "horse diaper" -- basically a bag that hangs under their bottoms and attaches to the wagon. When they poo, it's caught by the bag. Traffic-wise, the team and wagon will be going on residential streets, which aren't busy. When we do go on a main road, we act like any other vehicle, and when we can, let cars go by. The wagon is equipped with turn signals, brakes and head and tail lights.