Providing emergency relief for farms across the USA
Putting farmers first
Remember COVID? While we might be trying to put those days behind us, its impact still affects us all in many unseen ways. So, it’s no surprise that back in 2022, we were approached by a major agricultural company in the USA representing a branch of the US government to help with their questions. They were worried that there could be a similar outbreak to COVID but this time a variant that affects livestock and wanting to get ahead of the possible disease, they looked for a solution.
It wasn’t just COVID plaguing their minds, diseases like Avian Flu, African Swine Fever and BSE were also a concern. The USA has seen a rise in devastating cases of Avian Flu in the past few years and poultry farmers across the country are left unsure about the future of their business. The highly infectious disease spreads between wild or farm birds and, on rare occasions, even mammals, and can quickly wipe out an entire flock and can make it harder to maintain protection.
Having seen our extensive experience in providing solutions all over the world, including the US, especially with these specific requirements being so complex and high profile, Addfield, alongside three other manufacturers in the industry were invited to submit their best solutions.
Addfield, the clear choice
With our impressive history, nationwide popularity in the US, and US based expert sales team supported by our team in the UK who have an abundance of knowledge of the machines and waste type, they could see that Addfield were up to the job. They flew thousands of miles to visit our factory in Burntwood, UK and were able to see some of the different machines our skillful engineers were working on and the visit validated their trust in the Addfield name, and they awarded the project to us. A great victory for Addfield as many of the other companies that were tendering for this project were based in the USA.
In the case of an avian flu or animal covid variant outbreak, they knew that burying the infected and deceased animals was not an option, it could lead to contamination of the soil, land and even water supplies threatening the health of the public, and the remaining livestock would be at risk of catching the disease, and in worst case scenario, all livestock would have to be culled.
This would mean serious damage to the USA’s economy, costing billions of dollars, if other countries around the world started to ban US meat exports. The company aims to protect the industry and farms around the USA from this devastation.
They needed mobility
This is why such large solutions were needed, to be able to tackle high quantities of agricultural waste and provide rapid response in case of emergencies. Enter the mobile Rapid 1000 and the TB-AB. Specifically designed to be able to manage large quantities of poultry, swine and even bigger animals such as cows or even a moose. What makes these machines even more impressive? They’re mobile so that they can reach more of each region.
The Rapid 1000 is our largest traditional incinerator, weighing 26 ton and 12 meters (40 foot) in length. It is a higher-capacity incinerator with a 1 ton/hr burn rate and grated hearth bars to ensure a full, efficient burn from the top and bottom of the chamber and to minimise ash build-up to optimise production and efficiency. The project consisted of 22 of these impressive machines.
They are all mobile as they are installed on 40ft flat racks that can be connected to the back of truck and can be operated semi-permanently onsite or be used as an emergency, rapid response agricultural incinerator where they will go from location to location.
The TB-AB is a smaller machine than the Rapid 1000, however is still a large and impressive incinerator, traditionally found installed on cattle, sheep or pig farms around the world as a disease prevention and to maintain biosecurity. There was a total order of 4 TB-ABs.
Made for all conditions
The USA being 40 times greater in size than the UK and having many different climates from temperatures as high as 37°C (100°F) and as low as -20°C (-4°F), the machines were required to be a one stop shop and be fully equipped to make sure they run efficiently no matter the circumstance. The fuel tanks were fitted with heat wrap so that the fuel does not risk freezing. The thermocouples were also upgraded to a more durable cable to that can handle the humid temperatures, as we understood the standard thermocouple may become brittle, all sides and possibilities were covered when planning this project.
This is where things got even more interesting, as we got to innovate a feature that has never been seen before on the market. In the midst of this job with some of the Rapid 1000s already shipped to the US, a concern was raised with the original plan being to lift the chimneys on each site, it would not be viable due to health and safety regulations, due to the highest point being approximately 8 meters from the ground. A telescopic chimney, expertly designed by our design team, was proposed. The chimney is automatically lifted up using a hydraulic pump. Our team of skilled installation engineers dedicated the time to retrofitting the chimneys for the TBABs and Rapid 1000s previously delivered.
The very last Rapid 1000 of the order was shipped in June 2025, exactly 2 years after the first one was packed and shipped, and throughout those 24 months, our engineers travelled 3,200 miles from the UK to the USA, in multiple states, where the machines are being held when not in use, and completed commissioning of the machines, training for local operatives, going through rigorous testing and making sure they are maintaining the correct emissions limits and temperatures.
Along with the support from our engineers, the customers were also set up on Addfield’s online training platform, with custom training videos created for them, to not only support with the setup, but to also instruct on how to change consumables and incidentals like the thermocouple and burners, should they need to be replaced. The online training platform and the manuals provided with the machines are available in multilingual options because of our presence in many countries around the world that may not speak English primarily.
In the unfortunate event of an Avian Flu or African Swine Fever outbreak in the USA, farmers all over the nation can breathe easily knowing that there are measures in place to get on top of diseases spreading and pre-emptively protecting the economy of the US agricultural market. The 26 machines in total that are available in country as emergency relief should the worst happen.
