Volatile propane prices don’t have Larry Long worried.
They have him fighting back.
Long, who has been raising broilers for the Tyson company for the past 14 years on his farm near Monett, Mo., has watched fuel costs increase in the past few years to the point of becoming his major operating expense.
“Propane’s been what’s putting the squeeze on,” Long said. “Other costs have gone up, too, but that’s the main cost factor.”
And it isn’t like he can get by without it — after all, the hatchlings he gets when they are just a few hours old must stay warm to survive and the chicken houses must be maintained at a constant temperature so the birds will thrive.
Although a recent dip in gas prices has brought some relief, Long knows it is just a matter of time before those costs spiral upward again. So what to do?
Long’s answer is to go green. By the end of November, he will have installed biomass heaters in all six of his poultry houses. Built by SAR Biomass in Pocahontas, Iowa, the heaters can convert all sorts of plant products into energy — corn, cherry pits, nut hulls and pellets made from switchgrass, corn stalks and even johnsongrass.
“I guess about anything they can pelletize and burn has a BTU rating to it,” he said.
Long will use corn stock pellets manufactured at a mill in Mountain Grove. Delivered by the truck load and stored in bins that hold 15 tons each, the pellets will fire 100,000-BTU heaters and keep the 400 by 40-foot houses toasty.
Each heater will be housed in its own 12 by 12-foot building, which will be anchored to a concrete slab and connected to the midpoint of the chicken house it serves.
“You can set the heaters in the houses, but Tyson likes it better if you have them in their own building,” Long said. “And I think it will improve the longevity of the heater — to have them out of the ammonia in the chicken house.”
Burn pots in the bottom of the heaters will hold the pellets, and a system of tubes will carry the heat into the chicken house, where fans will distribute it evenly. Pellets will be fed into the heater automatically, and thermostats will continue to monitor the temperature in the houses. The conversion will require the installation of some new wiring – but nothing major, Long said — as well as vents to provide fresh air and help regulate the temperature.
“With this heat, you have to ventilate, but not like you do with propane, which creates a vapor,” Long said. “This is a drier heat, so the litter should stay drier, and you won’t have to run a ventilator like you do with propane.”
Long estimates that installing the heaters will cost about $22,000 per house or between $130,000 and $140,000 for all six.
“That’s doing all the work ourselves,” he said.
Long said he has been considering converting to biomass heat for more than a year, and part of his research included talking with other area growers who already have made the switch.
“They like them,” he said. “And they’re saving a considerable amount on heating costs.”
In addition, Long is one of 13 southwest Missouri growers who applied for and received renewable energy grants through the Missouri Department of Agriculture. The grants will pay 25 percent of the costs of converting to the alternative heating system.
With the savings on propane and the help of the grant, Long expects to recoup the cost of the conversion within five to seven years.
Biomass burners have been available for two or three years and are becoming more and more popular with poultry growers in the area, Long said.
“I personally know eight or nine who are putting them in,” he said, adding that his brother and two other neighbors also are among those receiving grants to make the switch.
“Within a three mile radius, there are 26 of them going in — and that’s the four of us that are putting them in,” he said.
“We’re just trying to save a little money,” Long said.
