Hawaii’s biggest egg producer says its manure treatment operation is back up and operating after a Department of Health inspection prompted concerns about its management.
The inspection revealed that Waialua Fresh Eggs on Oahu was not converting the thousands of pounds of manure its birds produce each day into biochar, a dry charcoal-like fertilizer.
The facility was instead stockpiling manure in a vacant barn, which food safety and environment groups say poses a serious threat to residents’ safety and water resources. A February DOH Clean Water Branch inspection confirmed the biochar machine was not being used and manure was stacking up.
Waialua Fresh Eggs had highlighted the conversion of tons of chicken manure to a dry soil additive as part of its initial management plan. An inspection in February found it had been stockpiling the waste instead. (Thomas Heaton/Civil Beat/2021)
The Center for Food Safety said the farm’s manure management has been misrepresented for the past two ears after it had previously highlighted biochar in its operating plan.
Stockpiling manure was “not a tenable solution,” according to Center for Food Safety senior attorney Sylvia Wu.
But the farm has restarted its biochar operation and it has been back up and running for a couple months, according to Waialua Fresh farm manager Avery Barry. “The challenges related to the biochar have been addressed and will not affect our ability to comply with regulations and safely manage the manure produced at the farm,” he said.
Hawaii’s humidity posed an issue for the biochar machine, which had been resolved by drying the manure before processing it, Barry says. The backlogged waste had also been addressed.
Villa Rose says it wants to reduce the state’s dependence on imported fertilizer by ramping up production of biochar, a safe dry byproduct of chicken manure. (Thomas Heaton/Civil Beat/2023)
Waialua Fresh Egg Farm is jointly run by mainland-based Hidden Villa Ranch and Rose Acre Farms, operting in Hawaii under the name Villa Rose since late 2021.
Villa Rose estimates the state imports more than one million pounds of manure for farming annually and Barry says Villa Rose is exploring relationships with local composting outfits to use its manure to produce more farm fertilizer.
The concentrated animal feeding operation – known in the industry as a CAFO – currently has about 140,000 laying hens, but that number is set to expand since avian flu outbreaks on the mainland have driven up demand for local eggs.