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Whitten Family Farm in Winthrop launching compost fertilizer program

Mar. 25—WINTHROP — A north country farm is planning a composting initiative aimed at combating the local impact of global fertilizer shortages and reducing food waste that gets sent to landfills.

Cherie L. Whitten, of Whitten Family Farm at 1101 County Route 49 in Winthrop, said the compost will help grow crops sold directly to consumers at farmers markets and through community-supported agriculture, or CSA programs. The farm also plans to sell compost to local farmers who may be dealing with skyrocketing fertilizer prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia is a major exporter of fertilizer, which is now banned from being imported to the United States.

Ms. Whitten said the farm will take food waste from grocery stores, restaurants and individuals, mainly in the Massena, Potsdam, Tri-Town and Parishville-Hopkinton areas. Collection is set to start in April to get the composting process started.

In addition to the compost fertilizing crops, the gaseous waste and heat captured from the composting process will go back into the Whittens' operation. The reverse aeration method draws down air through the compost pile, which creates heat, carbon dioxide and ammonia, Ms. Whitten said.

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"The moisture and the gases that come from the pile are nutrients and will be used to feed some plants," she said.

The farm will dedicate a building for taking grocery store food waste out of any packaging. Food waste will need to be warmed in the cold months. The Whittens plan to do that with heat from the compost process. The compost-generated heat will also heat water to be used for sterilizing compost buckets.

The Whittens plan to construct a new building on their farm for the actual composting. Ms. Whitten says they're planning for the building to hold a maximum of 12 cubic yards of compost at a time, but anticipate starting off with 2 to 3 cubic yards.

"It's pretty well designed. We're putting some finishing touches on it and waiting to do the ground work in the next week or so," she said. "We think we'll be building this, probably at the beginning of May."

Farmers around the world are reconsidering what they can grow for the 2022 growing season, according to a Reuters article published Wednesday.

"In the United States alone, fertilizer bills are expected to jump 12% this year, after rising 17% in 2021, according to American Farm Bureau Federation and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data," the article, viewable at wdt.me/zsUdGV, says. "Some growers are contemplating switching to crops that require fewer nutrients. Others plan to cultivate less acreage. Others say they'll simply use less fertilizer, a strategy crop experts predict will hurt yields."

Ms. Whitten said she's also hearing about north country farms that are in similar positions. She hopes not only to help those local agriculturists, but to prevent food waste from going into landfills where it rots and burns fossil fuels to get there.

"This is food security, and it's economic health. Our communities are sending their money away to buy synthetic fertilizer from another country, and at the same time putting our food waste into a landfill and getting it hauled away," she said. "Save your food waste for your local farm so on our local level, people can eat."

The Whittens are working with the town and village of Potsdam through the Potsdam Climate Smart Communities Task Force, which initiated discussions regarding sustainable food waste management with the support of a grant from the state Pollution Prevention Institute. They are also being supported by Clarkson University and AdkAction's Compost for Good project.

People can sign up for the composting or the farm's CSA programs by emailing whittenfamilyfarm@gmail.com. Buckets and bins will be provided for the compost program.

For more information, visit www.whittenfamilyfarm.com.