By KEVIN PROFT/ecoRI News staff
 |
| Mike Merner speaking at signing ceremony for state's new composting bill. Mounds of clean compost serve as backdrop (photo by Will Collette) |
Mike Merner, the longtime owner of Earth
Care Farm, recently told ecoRI News he will retire. “Old age sneaks
up on you,” he said. “Physically, I just don’t have it any more to do the real
work, so we’re going to cut back on the quantity of material that is coming
here.”
Earth Care Farm already has discontinued its accounts with the towns
of Westerly and South Kingstown, which supplied wood chips and leaves, its
shellfish supplier, and Roger Williams Park Zoo, which supplied manure from
elephants, zebras and other animals, wood shavings from animal holding
facilities, and, in the fall, thousands of pumpkins from its Jack-O-Lantern
Spectacular.
While these accounts were high-volume suppliers, they represent only four out of the “dozens and dozens” of accounts Earth Care Farm has, according to Merner.
The yard waste and wood chips Westerly was sending to the farm
will now be delivered to the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation’s
compost facility in Johnston, according to Mike Castagna, Westerly’s assistant
superintendent of public works. Last year, Westerly sent 654 tons of yard waste
and wood chips to Earth Care Farm, he said.
South Kingstown only sent wood chips from damaged trees and downed
limbs to Earth Care Farm, according to John Schock, the town’s director of
public services; he's now searching for another licensed composting facility to
deliver the material. The town’s yard waste goes to the Rhode Island
Resource Recovery Corporation.
The zoo will now send its manure to Nutrient
Networks, a company based in Mattapoisett, Mass., and licensed to
accept animal waste, according to Ron Patalano, deputy director of operations
at the zoo. Each week, the zoo generates two 30-yard Dumpsters of manure and
shavings, he said.
“We don’t want to clog up the landfill with a product that can be
used for good elsewhere,” Patalano said.
He also noted that the former agreement with Earth Care Farm saved
the zoo money, compared to the cost of disposal at the landfill. The zoo paid
to have the material hauled to Earth Care Farm, but didn't pay a tipping fee
once at the facility. Patalano said he is hoping for similar terms with
Nutrient Network.
Merner said he has received calls from Massachusetts farmers
inquiring about the logistics of managing the shellfish he was formerly
accepting, which could amount to up to 32 tons a week of challenging material.
Though Earth Care Farm will not produce as much compost going
forward, it will continue to sell compost. Much of the compost the facility
produced in the past was used to improve the soil on the farm itself, according
to Merner.
“We don’t need as much anymore,” he said. “Our soil is up to
snuff.”
In addition to its composting operation, Earth Care Farm offers a
range of pick-your-own crops such as strawberries, peas, carrots, garlic and
rhubarb. “We grow enough rhubarb to feed the state,” Merner said.
The farm also raises and sells beef and pork. Merner said all of
the farm activities will remain the same and that the compost operation is the
only area being scaled back.
“We are just going to cut back for a while until we get some
breathing room and new energy,” he said.
Merner said the farm will remain in the family thanks to his son,
son-in-law and daughter. He said he would consider selling the compost side of
the operation to a family member or to someone else he trusts.
“I am leery of selling the compost facility because it has to be
done properly,” he said.