Crop Drying Case Study - Eldon Farm

Calor, the leading name in LPG, is helping to boost the rural economy by delivering cleaner burning energy for a new environmentally beneficial crop.

Suffolk farmer Brian Rutterford has become one of the UK’s first farmers to plant Miscanthus – elephant grass – on a commercial scale, following a three year field trial. The new crop offers a significant opportunity to diversify, as Brian has invested in a £600,000 processing plant on his land at Eldon Farm, Mildenhall – and that’s where Calor is trusted to deliver.

"Miscanthus is a crop of the future," says Brian. "It can be used in a wide range of applications, from livestock bedding to biodegradable flower pots, and even in power stations as it’s carbon neutral," he adds.

The new business venture sees Miscanthus grown on some 60 hectares of the 2,600 acre farm for processing into "Miscanthus Pure" – Brian Rutterford’s brand of equine bedding. After harvesting, the Miscanthus is taken to the processing plant where it is first of all dried – using cleaner burning Calor LPG as the energy source.

"I’d worked in the past with Thurlow Nunn Standen, who built the new premises and they recommended Calor," says Brian. "It was clear that using controlled LPG powered drying equipment would ensure a precise moisture content, which is important during the processing of the crop."

Calor recommended the bulk tank installation required to power each of the 806kW Octagon burners. The tanks were delivered within 8 weeks of the initial consultation and since then the
burners have been working perfectly, and helping Brian to maintain high levels of crop drying.

The Miscanthus is harvested during February and March – not the driest of seasons in the UK – and transported to the processing plant. Here it is dried in store, chopped into lengths, sieved and any dust extracted. "This is also an important part of the process, as it maintains one of the key qualities of Miscanthus as a bedding material," says Brian. "It’s a material which is low in dust naturally and which retains its shape and absorbency – two essential qualities of good equine bedding," he adds.

Following the sieving and trimming process, the material is compacted into 100 litre polythene
wrapped bales, each weighing 20kg, for use as equine bedding in a wide range of
establishments including Newmarket.

But, says Brian, the crop presents a range of other potential uses for fellow farmers looking to diversify. "Large scale production is being planned in North America to provide a bio fuel for power
stations and the crop is already widely used for biodegradable plant pots and thatching," he says.

Eldon Farm also grows 170 acres of onions - again using Calor powered drying equipment - as well as sugar beets, wheat, barley and linseed.

Miscanthus isn’t the only exotic crop on the farm as 450 acres is used to grow Abyssinian mustard – used in the plastics industry.

Miscanthus grows rapidly from rhizomes and is harvested annually with minimal inputs and no tillage. It currently earns a grant from the Energy Crops Scheme run in partnership between DEFRA and the Forestry Commission.