Agricultural Engineering Associates

INTEGRATED BEEF/DAIRY, ETHANOL PRODUCTIONAND ANAEROBIC DIGESTERS

The economical fundamentals of agriculture in America have been locked in place for decades. Farmers, ranchers and milk producers, while collecting meager returns themselves, have fueled rmarkable profits for gaint corporations. The expectational ability of these men and women to produce more and more through the use ofgenetics, hybrid seeds, fertilizers, herbicides and irrigation techniques has done little to change the distribution of profits. Because they are forced to sell on corporate terms and at corporate determined prices, they continue to realize only a small percentage of the billions of dollars in profit generated by their cattle, milk and feed grains. Struggling with low prices and accelerating costs, many are one "bad" year away from disaster.

The Goal

Agricultural Engineering Associates is part of a term of forward thinking individuals who developed a unique approach to one long-term solution for producers. the approach will unlok the grip of the present system and set the stage for a major realignment of the distribution of agricultural profits. This approach is not looking to simply "tinker" with the fundamentala, but to cause an industry-wide shift in the way the business of agriculture is carried out. The goal is to give produces the tools that will allaow them to substantially increase their profits through ownership and real control of the lucrative processing phase of their industry.

The Approach

The business of Agricultural Engineering Associates is to help farm, ranch, and dairy producers aquire, organize, and utilize the scientific thechnological, engineering and management skills necessary to capture profits presently enjoyed by large processors of agricultural products. The company is comprised of ngineers and agricultural experts with the experience and knoledge to organize and bring collaborative expertise to provide ethanol plant design and engineering, feedlot and dairy design and engineering, ruminant animal nutrition, enclosed cattle feeding and anaerobic digestion. Together, these specialists have developed an approach to capturing profits for producers that is unprecedented. The company uses its expertise to team with clients to creat a single, fully integrated system that combine:

• An ethanol production plant
• A total confinement feedlot or modern scale (anaerobic digestion)
• A technology thet turns manure into energy (anaerobic digestion)

The result: projected interplan profits fr producers of 25 percent or greater on invested equality.

The Integrate System

These remarkable returns are possible becausethis unique Integrated System, driven by feed grains and beef or dairy production, captures the synergy of using th secondary co-products of each process to increase the rpofitability of the others. The feed grain used to produce ethanol also generates significant quantities of the product wet distillers grains (WDG), which retains much of the feed value of the origin grain when effectively utilized by a beef feedlot or dairy. WDG can effectively be utilized as 40 percent or more of the feed used in a feedlot or dairy in proximity to the ethanol plant. This al-natural ration helps reduce or eliminate acidosis. In turn, manure, a co-product of the feedlot or dairy, will be automatically collected and digested, and processed to stabilize the fertillizer components and produce clean-buring bio-methane, liquid fertilizers and compost. Closing the loop. the bio methane will be used as a fuel in the ethanol plant while the liquid fertilizer and compost will join ethanol and beef and/or milk as co-products in the marketplace.

LIVESTOCK FACILITIES DESIGN

In modern agricultural energy, labor and feed costs dictate that livestock production facilities be efficient in all respects, while providing good worker and animal environment and efficient odor and waste control - all at minimum capital costs.

The demands of current day economics and technology exceed the capacity of the historical team of equipment salesman, contractor, and farmer.

In our work we commonly find poorly designed, expensive livestock facilities being built. The availability of qualified design expertise - independent of equipment sales or construction - has been slow in evolving. We fill that gap and our expertise in livestock facility design averts for our clients the expensice, worrisome problems accompanying poor design.

Our sevices in this field inlude: 1) trouble-shooting design, performance, and durability of facilities;

2) solving ventilation problems like poor air volume control, poor temperature cotrol,poor air distribution (drafts), high energy use, moisture accumulation, corrosion, and odors;

3) solving waste management problems, equipment mulfunctions, and high maintenance;

4) traffice flow;

5) feed processing;

6) mechanical and electrical systems;

7) water systems.

Current & Recent Projects - Livestock Environment

• Dairy Facilities - Permitting, design, and construction certification of several new expansion projects dealing with dairiesfrom as small as 100 cows to in excess of 6000 cows. These dairies are scattered throughout the plains states from the Dakotas to Texas and Missouri to Colorado
• Power Ventilation increases dairy productivity. The same ventilation "know-how" that we have been delivering for over three decades in swine and poultryfacilities is now making inroads in dairy production. Power cross-ventilated dairy barns are posting impressive numbers in cow comfort, environmental consistency, economy and productivity.
• Beff feedlot projects - permitting, design, and construction certification of several new expansion projects ranging from 500 head to in excess of 80000 head capacity.
• International facility design and consulting on dairy, swine, beef and poultry facilities in countries such as Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Morocco, Egypt, Mali, Romania, China and Taiwan.
• Anaerobic digester and odor control facility permitting, design and construction certification of dairy, beef and swine facilities in conjunction with RCM digesters.
• Animal environment design and toubleshooting for production and research facilities including all species. Signature projects include the genetic pyramid for a major swine genetics supplier and a facility for transgenic goats producing human medicinal enzymes in their milk.
• Technology innovation in evironmental controls for animal habits and for manure utilization and environmental protection. Initiated first significant Alternative Technologies project for CAFO's with support from USDA-NRCS and USEPA.
• Modern cattle handling facilities for  feedlot processing, receiving and shipping; ranch facilities; A-I facilities and university and test facilities.
• Production swine facilities - permitting, design and construction certification of numerous swine facilities including so units, nurseries and finishing facilities in ten or more central states.
• Poultry production facilities - permitting, design and construction certification of layer and broiler facilities up to and including 1.8 million birds.
• Research facilities - permitting, design and construction certification of university, USDA and commercial researchfacilities for all animal species in several states.
• Expert testimony on odor control, environmental protection and compliance.
• Environmental policy and regulations consulting to Federal and State Agencies.