The next time you drive past Kinnard Farms in Casco, you will notice the technology is growing as fast as the crops this year. The dairy farm hosted Peninsula Pride Farms’ Summer Field Day and Picnic on Wednesday, showcasing two of the latest pieces of technology. Towering over one of the farm fields is the farm’s Sedron facility. Sedron has installed the Varcor System, which processes dairy manure into three products: a dry, organic fertilizer, a liquid nitrogen fertilizer, and clean distilled water. At Kinnard Farms, the system will use manure that has already gone through its neighboring digesters, which captures the methane for natural gas distribution. The facility is one of three in the United States, joining two others in Indiana. Sedron’s Thomas Janicki says the Varcor System will help farms like Kinnard Farms become more sustainable in the future.

It has been years in the making for Lee Kinnard from Kinnard Farms. He says technology is allowing him to be a better steward of the environment and his neighbors, adding that the Varcor System will allow them to take hundreds of manure trucks off of local roads.

The Rain360 system was placed in a different field to shower clean water on top of growing corn crops. The machinery uses water collected from the farm’s feed pad and moves through the field autonomously, letting farm personnel via apps on their phones know whether or not it is working.