Energy producer: Smithfield’s Ruckman finishing farm in Gentry County has begun producing natural gas from waste from the nearby hog operation. The above photo shows the bio-gas plant near the hog barns.
Smithfield and Roeslein Alternative Energy have begun producing renewable natural gas at the Ruckman hog finishing farm in Gentry County and will also harvest native prairie grass near the Dunn Ranch for their biogas project.
The partnership converts manure collected from Smithfield farms in Missouri into renewable natural gas while developing wildlife habitat to establish cover crops on highly-erodible land. The Ruckman farm is the home of the two companies’ first biogas project. The project will be extended to eight other Smithfield finishing farms in Missouri.