I’m a windows down kind of guy.
There’s nothing like a warm day with the wind blowing through the car and the music turned up. Even if it’s a little chilly outside, a half-cracked window for some fresh air always turns up the corners of my mouth.
In the summer or so of last year, I made multiple trips to Monett a week, and just before I’d get to Purdy, I’d have to roll those windows up of my smile would turn upside down.
A field to the southwest of Purdy had this permeating stench. I’d never smelled anything quite like it. For about half a mile as you drove past the browner-than-normal farm land, it plain smelled bad.
It was akin to the smell at times when it’s extra humid near the many chicken processing plants in southwest Missouri, but even that smells like bad cat food. This, was a bit more manure.
I later found out, it was. Freelancer Sheila Harris was the first to smell the story behind the stench. Wastewater residuals which are now being land-applied by the 6,000-gallon tanker load as free fertilizer in Barry and nearby southwest Missouri counties.
Two competing out-of-state companies – Maryland-based Synagro and Arkansas-based Denali Water Solutions — are primarily engaging in the practice. Most of the poultry wastewater residuals they land-apply are brought into Missouri from Arkansas, according to a contract driver for Denali Harris spoke with.
At the farm that driver was delivering to, 12-15 loads a day were being applied. That’s at least 72,000 gallons of residuals made of small solid particles, fats and other organic materials.
The idea is to use the material to reinvigorate farmland, rather than trucking it to landfills where it can create high levels of methane.
On the surface, despite the smell, the idea behind using seems sound. However, there are a number of red flags — like the fact it is free — that make us question not its effectiveness, but its effect.
According to the Missouri Fertilizer Law, in order to qualify as a fertilizer, a substance must contain at least one plant nutrient — nitrogen, phosphorus or potash — and no contaminants. Reports from required test samples are filed with the DNR.
According to the Missouri Fertilizer Control Board’s website, Synagro currently holds Missouri fertilizer permits in conjunction with six business contractors.
Denali also has two lagoons, each with an approximate storage capacity of 2 million gallons, located in southwest Missouri, one on the property of Jerry Evans, south of Fairview in Newton County; and one on the property of Keith Gideon, five miles southwest of Stella in McDonald County.
Denali representatives say the lagoons are reserved for organic residuals from food processing, where they are held until weather conditions are right for land application, and in an effort to reduce odors.
Odors and effectiveness aside, as that field near Purdy shot up in the fall with a good-looking crop, the major concern we have is how these land applications will affect groundwater, and will it contaminate some of the areas we hold so dear.
Retired Research Soil Analyst Bob Lerch said land-applications are not all bad, but how it is done is key. Things like slope and soil content should be accounted for. We doubt they are.
Denali said it works with the state to meet all state requirements, but there is a history of these things going sideways. Much of northwest Arkansas is designated as a “Nutrient Surplus Area” due to excessive nitrogen and phosphorous in the soil, credited to poultry processing.
While these nutrients are key in accomplishing the reinvigoration farmers want for their land, there is also a danger in quantity.
Barry County’s karst topography means seep through the multiple fissures, sinkholes and underground streams and reach the groundwater below. Guess who drinks that water?
It is also well-known that Roaring River spring is fed by such topography, and excess nutrients could have a long-term effect on the river and trout more than 2 million people visit per year.
We know of at least one instance where a tanker crashed in the county, in the area presumed to feed Roaring River, and the contents of the tanker were emptied. Big red flag.
Elsewhere in the region, a federal judge ruled on Jan. 18 that Tyson Foods, George’s Inc. and other poultry processors were responsible for polluting the Illinois River Watershed in Oklahoma with run-off from chicken litter that had been land-applied as fertilizer.
It’s clear there is a demand for this type of land-applied fertilizer, but will the convenience and ease of today create complications in the future?
We live in a beautiful, diverse area of the Ozarks. I hope we can keep it that way — with windows down.
Kyle Troutman has served as the editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014. In 2017, he was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers, and in 2022, he won a Golden Dozen Award from ISWINE. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@ cassville-democrat.com.
