Connecticut Dairy Farmer Makes  the Sharks Take Notice

Appearing on the TV show ‘Shark Tank’ gave national exposure to Amanda Freund and her manure-based plant containers.

Amanda Freund is a Connecticut dairy farmer and entrepreneur. She recently appeared on the TV show Shark Tank, pitching her product, CowPots, biodegradable plant pots made from composted manure produced by the farm’s Holstein herd.

In April, the third-generation New Canaan, Connecticut, dairy farmer took the Shark Tank stage to pitch her family’s product. They have been selling a variety of plant containers made from recycled cow manure since 2006 and have created custom materials for the hunting and packaging industries.

The Freunds milk 300 Holsteins, which results in around 30,000 pounds of manure every day, so they have plenty of material at their disposal. It is run through a methane digester, resulting in liquid that is used as fertilizer, solids that are turned into CowPots, and biogas that heats water, which circulates through a heat rack to keep the digester at its optimal temperature and also heats the farmhouse and other buildings. 

Since the digestion process reduces ammonia, Freund said the pots don’t smell like manure. They can be planted directly into the ground without disrupting the plant’s roots and are biodegradable within a single growing season, leaving nutrients behind.

EDITOR’S TAKE:

Who says farmers aren’t innovative and entrepreneurial? When you can take cow manure and sell it on Shark Tank then it becomes a national brand, I’d say that is pretty solid proof. Holy crap, this is a great story of taking waste matter and turning it into a profit. Plus, it is good for the plants and the environment. Who doesn’t love these kinds of stories about people willing to take a risk and succeeding?

You too have innovative products at your disposal as a CAD member. Products like the new AGwagon. Or what about farm/ranch-oriented services like CADFI or CAD Protect that benefit the farmer/rancher and also create additional sources of income for your dealership.