The Time is Now - Part 2
In the second of our three-part series, The Time is Now, we focus on the urgency around creating energy independence for AD plant operators and the communities they serve. After a decade of unprecedented fuel price volatility and geopolitical shocks, waiting is no longer a business strategy. This series explores how forward-thinking operators are taking control of their own fuel supply, stabilising their costs, and driving a new circular model of fuel production.
Part 2: Owning the Supply Chain with Menchine Farm
For Stuart Cole of Menchine Farm in Tiverton, Devon, energy independence isn’t a recent trend – it has been a decade-long mission.
Menchine Farm is an expansive, highly diversified mixed operation. It manages 12,000 M&S-assured laying hens, 400 beef cattle, 460 acres of crops, and processes a staggering one million RSPCA-approved broiler chickens per year. Running a business of this scale requires massive amounts of power. Since 2013, the farm has been aggressively pursuing self-sufficiency, layering Anaerobic Digestion (AD), wind, solar PV, and biomass into a genuinely renewable farm ecosystem.
When looking at the final frontier of their energy bills – transport and machinery fuel – on-farm Bio-CNG was the natural next chapter. But under current market conditions, it quickly became an urgent necessity.
The Strategy: If You Don’t Own It, You’re Vulnerable
The motivation behind Menchine Farm’s latest investment is straightforward, and Cole puts it plainly: the farm invested “so we could own the supply chain and control our energy costs.”
In an era defined by volatile fuel markets, sudden tariff spikes, and geopolitical instability that can rewrite a business’s overheads overnight, having absolute control is worth just as much as the financial savings themselves. For years, agricultural businesses have been price-takers, at the mercy of external oil and gas suppliers.
The philosophy of The Time is Now is about refusing to take that risk anymore. By capturing their own waste streams and refining them into fuel on-site, Menchine Farm has insulated itself from the global fossil fuel rollercoaster. They didn’t wait for market stability to return; they created their own.
…volatile fuel markets, sudden tariff spikes, and geopolitical instability that can rewrite a business’s overheads overnight
The Solution: A Heavy-Duty On-Farm Fuel Loop
The latest anchor in Menchine Farm’s self-sufficiency strategy is a Bennamann CAPCH4™ fuel system, paired directly with cutting-edge New Holland Bio-CNG tractors.
The system is entirely optimised around self-consumption. Today, two New Holland T6.180 Methane tractors handle the heavy lifting for general farm duties. To prove the scalability of the system, the farm recently ran a successful trial of the higher-horsepower New Holland T7.270 Methane tractor. The trial demonstrated clear operational benefits, marking a clear path forward for future fleet growth as the business expands.
By turning their own chicken litter and manure into tractor fuel, Menchine Farm has effectively closed the loop on their agricultural logistics.
The Numbers at a Glance
…localised energy security and predictable input costs mean the economics stack up perfectly.
While a project of this scale represents a significant long-term capital commitment, the localised energy security and predictable input costs mean the economics stack up perfectly.
- Primary feedstocks: chicken litter, maize, rye, and farmyard manure.
- Plant capacity: 1.3 MWe export.
- Biogas output: 550 m³ per hour.
- Potential Bio-CNG production: 140,000 kg per year, equivalent to approximately 140,000 litres of diesel.
The Next Horizon: Powering the Local Economy
Stuart Cole’s vision doesn’t stop at the farm gate. Looking ahead, Menchine Farm intends to scale up the operation to sell surplus Bio-CNG into the commercial transport sector and use it to anchor brand-new industrial activities directly on the site.
Menchine Farm is a vivid blueprint of what modern, regenerative agriculture looks like when a business commits to owning its energy supply chain. They recognised that the traditional energy grid is a vulnerability, and they acted.
The lesson for AD operators everywhere is clear: stop paying for imported volatility. The technology to fuel your own fleet from your own waste exists today.
…stop paying for imported volatility. The technology to fuel your own fleet from your own waste exists today.
The time for energy independence is now. Stop buying fuel. Start making it.
Are you ready to take control of your supply chain and stop reacting to volatile fuel markets? Discover how Bennamann’s CAPCH4™ technology turns your agricultural waste into reliable, on-farm fuel.
