Nature Fresh Farms heats greenhouses by burning Hiram Walker whisky barrels

Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. had barrels to burn and Nature Fresh Farms is doing just that to heat its greenhouses with a renewable fuel source.

The year-old agreement between the two local companies has helped the distiller avoid filling landfills with its excess whisky barrels and wood pallets while Nature Fresh enjoys significant savings on its heating bill.

“We are in an industry that has the capacity to produce significant positive change,” said Dave Froese, Energy Manager at Nature Fresh Farms in a company release.

“Teaming up with Hiram Walker & Sons gives us the opportunity to continue to make a difference by reducing the amount of materials that end up in landfills.”

To date the greenhouse firm has burned more than 25,000 barrels and other wood materials in its biomass furnace saving Nature Fresh the equivalent of 520,000 cubic metres of natural gas since the partnership began. That’s enough natural gas to heat the average Canadian home for 192 years.

It also reduced the carbon dioxide emissions for heating the company’s 200 acres of greenhouses by 1,000 tons.

“Being more sustainable is one of the company’s core values,” said

Kara Badder, marketing manager for Nature Fresh.

“We’ve made packaging changes that save a lot of plastic going into the environment. Inside the greenhouses, from irrigation to energy screens, we try to always be more sustainable.”

400 BARRELS A MONTH

Nature Fresh receives about 400 barrels a month that are turned into wood chips to be fed into the boiler’s firebox during the colder months. The furnace heats water that is sent through pipes throughout the greenhouse to warm the plants.

Hiram Walker, which approached Nature Fresh with the concept in 2018, also sends along other scrap wood material including used bungs, wood shavings, and damaged pallets.

“The partnership between Hiram Walker and Nature Fresh Farms can best be described as a win-win situation for both companies,” said Darren Taylor, customer service and planning of bulk operations at Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd.

“Hiram Walker has an environmentally friendly way to dispose of barrels and Nature Fresh Farms receives a good supply of clean-burning oak wood.”

The metal rings that hold the barrels together are also recycled.

“We get skids from other sources too,” Badder said. “We use a lot of different wood waste materials.

“This partnership (with Hiram Walkers) is proving great because it’s an ongoing opportunity.”