ANSWERING THE LURE OF THE LAND

In Business, March/April, 2004, Vol. 26, No. 2, p. 10

Philadelphia attorney turns farmer, linking suburban home owners, landscapers, horse fanciers and nurseries, through a pioneering on-farm composting business.

George DeVault

ON DAYS when he knows he has to put on his farmer's hat, “Ned” Foley literally springs out of bed early. He enthusiastically rushes to work. “I just love being outside, sucking in the rays, getting my hands dirty. It's the most exciting thing in the world. Pure enjoyment,” he says.
On days when he knows he has to put on his Philadelphia lawyer's suit and head to his office in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, to practice business law, 40-year-old Edward J. Foley, Jr., P.C., grudgingly rolls over when his alarm clock goes off - and hits the “snooze” button.
Though they may seem like totally different men, the two Foleys are actually the same man, a pioneer in a new state program of on-farm composting that could, ultimately, reduce Pennsylvania's solid waste stream by about one-third. “I don't need to make a ton of money. I need to be happy,” says farmer Foley. “I see lots of guys making a ton of money - and they are miserable. Life is too short not to enjoy yourself,” says attorney Foley.
So, like fictional Manhattan attorney Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert) on the old TV series “Green Acres,” Foley turned his back on the big city and headed for greener pastures when it came time to settle down. Instead of buying a mansion along Philadelphia's monied Main Line, Foley and his wife, Gail, purchased 30 acres and a rundown farmhouse in Upper Providence Township in Montgomery County, northwest of Philadelphia in 1999. A recent “Green Acres” marathon on a local TV station put him in a contemplative mood. “I kind of felt the same way as Oliver Douglas,” Foley says. His own green acres, named Two Particular Acres (after a Jimmy Buffet song), is the place for him.
“I have zero farming background. I grew up in a subdivision. When I got married, I wanted to live in the country. Royersford was pretty much all working farms at the time. You could see five or six working farms from our place. “I started helping neighbors bale hay. We became friends and I got bit by the farming bug. I applied the same approach to farming as I did to my law studies, reading everything I possibly could. So I had the book stuff down, which, of course, doesn't mean anything unless you put it to practice.” It was a slow, gradual process. In time, some farmers began turning to Foley for advice.
He began growing timothy hay and grains (no-till corn, soybeans and oats) for his own three “rescue” horses and the increasing number of horse stables in the area. But, with commodity prices low and the cost of fertilizer recently jumping to $360 a ton, Foley soon discovered what farmers have known for generations: Farming is a no get-rich-quick proposition. In fact, it's a darn hard way to try to make any money. “My law practice pays for the pleasure of farming,” Foley says, only half joking.
EXPANDING THE FARMING OPERATION ... SUSTAINABLY
Following the infamous advice of former Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz, Foley got bigger, expanding his farming operation to up to 100 acres by renting nearby fields. But he didn't stop there. Foley also diversified his operation. He added value to what his land produced, and focused on direct marketing to eliminate any middlemen, who routinely pocket most profits in agriculture.
“When we began farming , the organic matter content of our soils was less than two percent, which creates stressful growing conditions. The soil we manufacture can have 10 percent or greater organic matter, which, in many cases, will alleviate mineral fertilizer needs. “I don't want to go back to $5,000 fertilizer bills,” Foley says. “My bill this year will be under $500. My pesticide use has been cut by 80 percent.” His farm is now, in a word, sustainable, he believes. While he still uses some pesticides, Foley sees farm chemicals as only one tool in the farmer's toolbox. “If I see a worm in an ear of corn, I break that section off and eat the rest. I'd rather be on the tractor running a cultivator than a sprayer.” For many farmers, though, such realizations come too late. “We are the only one left now,” Foley notes sadly of area farms. All he can see from his farm today is “house farms” bristling with $500,000 homes.
Historically, the township has been highly agricultural with large family farms. However, over the last decade, many of the last remaining farms were sold to housing developers who are constructing large, single family, executive style homes, reports the township's website. In 2000, the median household income was $75,789 and, in 2002, the median price of a home was $215,000. More than 750,000 people live in Montgomery County. Major employers there include Prudential, Aetna/U.S. Healthcare, meat packers Moyer and Hatfield, and pharmaceutical giants McNeil, Merck and Wyeth.
When Wyeth built a facility that employs 1,500 in nearby Collegeville, the housing boom in Upper Providence Township exploded. Developers bought up every acre they could get their hands on. “We've been the holdout,” Foley says. “We get letters once a week urging us to sell. I don't even answer them.”
GETTING INTO THE BUSINESS OF COMPOSTING
The thing that keeps Foley's farm going is composting - a business that just sort of happened on its own. Foley began by composting manure from his own horses and area stables to fertilize his hayfields. Timothy hay was his main cash crop. Then, on rented farmland, he was faced with piles of wood chips that had partially composted on their own. A landscaper had a long-term agreement with the landowner to dump chips there. The chips kept coming.
While delivering hay to nearby stables, he kept noticing growing stockpiles of manure. “I can create an organic solution,” Foley recalls thinking. “I deliver hay to them, haul back manure, compost it and then redistribute it to the community.”
With no small amount of money from his own pocket, the state's first on-farm composting permit and a $43,000 state grant for “compost infrastructure development,” Foley was finally in business. He leaves six roll-off containers at area stables and other locations. When the minidumpsters are full of manure or other compostable material, customers call for pick up. “I wish I could be out of the trucking business,” Foley muses. He calls trucking the Achilles' heel of the composting business, but adds that full service to customers is essential.
“At the same time we started getting neighbors knocking on the door, asking, 'Hey, how can I get some of this stuff?' The people who were buying these homes and taking away land base - taking away the places to spread manure - were part of the solution. These people were willing to pay much more for composted mulch than a bushel of corn or soybeans or anything else.”
“We began composting after observing the less than adequate manure management practices on small and medium sized horse stables that we typically sold hay and straw to over the years,” Foley explains on his website (www.twoparticularacres.com). “The problem stemmed from a lack of infrastructure to properly store, remove and/or dispose of the manure in this densely populated region.
“We addressed this benign neglect by creating an organic loop infrastructure that provides a manure storage container which is routinely and regularly removed from the stables. The manure is properly composted, and the finished product is distributed through utilization on our farm and, more importantly, into the local community through suburban homeowners, landscape contractors, nurseries and golf courses. Our 'organics loop' links these various parties by benefiting each and every participant in the loop and is therefore a sustainable solution for the entire community.”
The perfect win-win scenario! Or so it would seem. It makes so much sense that Foley wrote a letter to the township last winter, inviting it to drop off yard trimmings for composting, instead of trucking it to a landfill.
Then, 45 days later, the township sent Foley a letter. It was certified, return receipt requested. The letter ordered him to “cease and desist” his composting activities, forthwith. Despite his on-farm composting permit from the state, the township said that Foley's composting operation violates his R-1 agricultural zoning.
“They have not backed off,” Foley says. Neither has Foley. He is still making compost. The farmer-attorney argued his case before the township Zoning Hearing Board on February 19, 2004. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has defined composting as being well within the definition of the realm of agricultural enterprises. “After all, we are doing it primarily to feed our own farm,” he says. “But the township attorney said if the Zoning Board approved my operation, the supervisors would appeal. “It's distracting. It's frustrating. I should be spending my time on the business. I never thought these guys would be the problem. All of the neighbors are in support of what we're doing,” says Foley.
What's the problem? The only thing Foley can figure is that the township wants to build some walking trails next to his property on recreational land “donated” to the township by a developer. “I could move it, if they insist. So, far they have not. They just want me shut down,” he says.
“I'm trying to be a good steward,” Foley says. “I run a clean operation. I've become very good at what I'm doing. I do not generate any odors,” he says. As manure arrives at his farm it is immediately put into piles with a high-carbon content, blended and capped with finished compost to seal in odors. Within three to five days, the only odor when the pile is turned is a rich, earthy smell. Any leachate from composting pads flows into Foley's hayfield. “We still are relatively small and probably always will stay small. I made lots of mistakes. Still do. I just don't want the mistakes to be fatal ones. That's why when I started, I started very small,” adds Foley.
“Composting is not going to overtake what we do on the farm. I compost because I want to farm. I don't farm because I want to compost. “I believe in this stuff and I want to make it happen, to make lemonade out of lemons. I will talk to anyone who will listen to me, explains Foley, adding that outreach is a big part of what he does. Toward that end, he serves on the Organics Council of the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania and speaks at events such as the annual conference of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (www.pasafarming.org). Foley will be one of the featured speakers at the 34th Annual BioCycle National Conference in Philadelphia June 21-23, 2004.
“On-farm composting,” Foley says, “is a great way for agriculture to support itself and for farmers to farm in a sustainable way. Our permit is a great way to preserve open space and cut back on inputs. If I can get a small tipping fee, reduce inputs and increase yields, there is nothing better. I don't understand why every farmer in the state doesn't have one.”

THE BUSINESS AT-A-GLANCE
Two Particular Acres (TPA) is a 30-acre, family-owned and operated farm in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (suburban Philadelphia). Owner-operator Edward J. Foley, Jr., P.C.
February 3, 2003 - TPA receives first on-farm composting permit in state from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Permit allows up to 3,000 cubic yards of material per acre on site. Up to five acres may be set aside for composting.
Permitted to accept manure, yard trimmings, source-separated food residuals from food markets, grocery stores, food banks, food distribution centers, school cafeterias and institutions, source-separated newspaper and corrugated paper (cardboard). Food waste is limited to 500 tons or 1,000 cubic yards per acre.
June 12, 2003 - TPA receives $43,000 compost infrastructure development grant from the state to buy six roll-off containers and a compost turner.
Equipment - Owns Case IH 100-hp MFWD loader tractor with creeper gear, Sandberger tractor-powered 10-foot compost turner, Sundance Kid II horizontal grinder, Peterbuilt single axle roll-off container truck that is small (30,000-pound capacity) and easily maneuverable, six roll-off collection containers. Rents a screen (easily towed behind pickup truck) for finish screening of product.
Products - Compost, mulch, topsoil, and hay.
o Compost is high quality and, in many cases, made to order utilizing a method to insure high microbial counts and destruction of pathogens and weed seeds. Available year-round in both vegetative- and manure-based versions. Screened or unscreened.
o Mulch is “chipper chips” and manure, blended to precise proportions, then composted in aerated windows for up to one year. Reground to a fine texture using a proprietary recipe. Uses no construction waste (pallets), no chemicals or dyes. Manure-free mulch also available.
o Top soil consists of screened and blended composts and sand containing up to about 10 percent organic matter.
Customers - Homeowners, golf courses, nurseries, landscapers, horse stables and even zoos.
Landscapers and homeowners drop off yard trimmings (leaves, grass, brush and other woody material) and pay tipping fee. Their vehicles are reloaded with compost, mulch or topsoil.
E-mail ejf@twoparticularacres.
com. For details on Pennsylvania's on-farm composting permit program, contact PA Department of Environmental Protection, Waste Minimization and Planning Division, (717) 787-7382.

Copyright 2007, The JG Press