Pig farmers situated nearby an urban area often receive complaints from neighbors about odor and too much transport due to the slurry that needs to be transported. At Eerola pig production a biological slurry treatment unit is the answer. The unit ensures that odor is reduced and less slurry needs to be transported from the farm.

Innovation As Problem Solver

The Eerola pig production farm is situated near an urban area. The farm intends to stay in the area and also wants to enlarge its operation, but the neighbors were complaining about too much odor. A second challenge was to reduce the logistics challenge since slurry needs to be transported far from the farm.

In order to avoid conflicts with the neighbors the farmer searched for solutions. The Eerola farm started a collaboration with Pellon Group, a Finnish company that offers solutions among others to increase the welfare of animals and production. Together Pellon Group and Sami Eerola, the farmer, developed and tested Biosampo, the new biological treatment unit, at farm level.

How Biosampo Works

Apart from the treatment unit, high-pressure water spraying and manure cooling with heat pumps were also tested. As the odor is reduced by these technologies, the farmer is able to enlarge the farm even if the urban area is nearby.

As the Biosampo-unit separates the dry and wet fractions and removes the nitrogen, the logistical costs are reduced since the liquid part can be spread near the farm and the dry part has enough phosphorus to make it financially viable to transport it further away.

“I thought that the new technologies would help me with the neighbors” (Sami Eerola, the farmer)

”This kind of experimental research is meant for finding the problems” (Juha Takala, Pellon Group Ltd)

Positive Results For Other Farmers

Farmers using Biosampo and the other environmental technologies tested at Eerola Farm will be able to locate their farms near an urban area without complaints about odor or excess transport traffic. Especially the odor from spreading the manure will be reduced and on top of that the farms will save money in transports, and even get new business selling the dry fraction as a fertilizer.

Pellon Group Ltd also benefits. The company gets realistic full-scale experience and data to be used in the product development.

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Watch Video From Eerola Farm

Environmental technology development at Eerola Farm in Finland.