The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture will sponsor a "Bio-Diesel & Compost on the Farm" field day at Briar Patch Organic Farms in Mifflinburg, Pa.

The field day, which runs from 1:00-5:30 p.m., costs $10 for PASA and PROP members and $15 for all others.

Briar Patch Organic Farms consists of 335 acres of PA Certified Organic crop land. During the first half of this afternoon tour, Preston Boop will share his experiences making and using compost on a farm-scale. Preston has been composting municipal yard waste and manures since 1990. The composting site improvements includes: hardened surface with 3 percent slope, surface water retention pond, and a vegetative bio-filter strip. A tractor drawn windrow turner is used to aerate compost.

The second half of this tour will focus on the unique bio-diesel production site at Briar Patch Organic Farms. This project was started to provide fuel for the farming/composting operation.

Participants will get a general overview of the chemical process through which used fryer oil is converted to bio-diesel in an eighty gallon water heater. The operation collects and converts about 180 gallons of fryer oil to bio-diesel per week and the resulting fuel is used in tractors, skid loaders, fork lifts, and home heating furnaces.

Special guest Matt Steiman will be on hand to provide information about the bio-diesel production process, as well as different models for production. Matt is the biodiesel project supervisor for Dickinson College and coordinator of the Wilson College biodiesel education program for farmers. He has been making biodiesel fuel from waste fryer oil since 2003, for use in farm equipment and other diesel machinery. Matt enjoys teaching about biodiesel, with a special interest in promoting safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible production.

To register, contact PASA at 814-349-9856 or visit the PASA website.

9/22/2007