PRINCETON, Mo. (AP) - A Smithfield Foods subsidiary has announced a joint venture to turn hog manure into energy at its farms in northern Missouri.
Murphy-Brown of Missouri is providing the manure to produce biogas, a fuel similar to natural gas. Roeslein Alternative Energy will manage the project and secure financing for the $100-million project. Murphy-Brown, the world's largest pork producer, was formerly called Premium Standards Farm.
The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/1e8A0Id ) the deal will have Murphy-Brown scraping the manure into lagoons where the waste will decompose and produce gas.
Roeslein will manage the biogas operation and sell the fuel. The company claims among other things that the biogas project will produce fewer greenhouse gases and reduce Murphy-Brown's carbon footprint.
Murphy-Brown's Missouri operation is based in Princeton and has 1,070 employees.