Meet the Experts - Agronomist Neal Fehringer

Encore Green Environmental wants you to know all there is to know about increasing all the benefits that come from applying cleaned industry by-product water to the arid land. 

So – we want you to meet our team of experts that are aligned with us 

Today, we hear from Encore Green Environmental’s agronomist, Neal Fehringer.

EGE

Thanks, Neal, for chatting with us. Briefly tell us a little about your background. 

NEAL

I’m a Certified Professional Agronomist and Certified Crop Advisor (CCA), both certifications through the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). I have been an ASA member for 41 years. I have been an agronomist for 40 years, graduating from Colorado State University in 1979 with an agronomy degree. I worked for two years as a staff agronomist for a farming company. I was their first agronomist, so I developed the program. In 1979, we had about 60,000 acres farmed. By 1981, we farmed 130,000 acres in two states. In addition to being the agronomist, I managed two smaller farms.

In May 1981, I had the opportunity to start my agronomic consulting company, Fehringer Agricultural Consulting, which I still operate.

EGE

Tell us about your role in general terms, so us non-scientists can understand.

NEAL

I work with farmers on their crop production. I do not sell any products, just services. I take soil and plant samples; monitor fields for weeds, insects, diseases, stands, plant growth, and soil moisture; make fertilizer recommendations; pest control recommendations; and calibrate farm application equipment. In addition, we do third-party contract research for agricultural companies. Write nutrient management plans for feedlots to deal with manure waste. Provide expert witness services on legal matters and for insurance companies. Worked for 10 years with natural gas production companies in dealing with sodium bicarbonate by-product water being applied via sprinkler irrigation to hay fields. 

Currently, I am Director of Agronomy for Encore Green Environment, a mid-stream agricultural company that is re-purposing oilfield and coalbed methane by-product waters so that they can be used as beneficial water to be applied to grasslands, providing a consistent water supply in the arid Western United States. In doing so, more grass will be produced, soil health will increase, and more carbon will be sequestered. This will be accomplished by substantially reducing the amount of water needing to be disposed and without need of soil amendments.

EGE

What has drawn you to your field of expertise? That is, what’s your motivation for your work day in and day out?

NEAL

I was raised on a farm in northeast Colorado. I love the science of crop production  and working with people in agriculture. It is rewarding to watch crops develop and help grow food to feed the nation and world. As an agronomist, I need to leave the earth’s natural resources that I work with in better condition than when I started. I help farmers produce nutritious food as efficiently as possibly while protecting the environment.

EGE

What’s been one professional success you’re proud of?

NEAL

Most of clients have been with me for over 25 years because they can trust me and I have made their farms more efficient.

EGE

So, tell us, what’s a little-known fact about you? 

NEAL

I grew up near a town of 200. I had 15 in my graduating class, of which 9 were girls and 6 boys. Of the 9 girls, 4 were my cousins!!! I had to go out of town to get a date.

EGE

What’s your perspective on the ‘Just Add Water’ Initiative? 

NEAL

This initiative is a win-win for everyone, even urban folks as this waste volume is greatly reduced. We will take an industrial waste and turn it into a resource for the usual moisture- deficient Great Plains. More grass will be produced, especially on drought years, so that ranchers do not have to liquidate some or all or their herd and/or buy expensive hay. This will provide more stability to ranching operations. There will be a fraction of the water needing to be disposed, thus reducing the risk of groundwater contamination, brine water spill soil contamination, and trucking. By just adding water, soil health will improve, soil erosion will decrease, and increased carbon sequestration with increased grass growth.

EGE

From your point of view and expertise, what’s the benefit of increasing soil health?

NEAL

Increasing soil health will also improve water infiltration, leaving less to run-off, thus reducing erosion.

EGE

Thanks, Neal. One last thing, can you tell us one thing that excites you about the potential of adding a new source of water to the arid western state? 

NEAL

Water is king in the west. People have been shot over water. I am excited to turn a one industry’s waste into another’s resource.

When You’re Tired of ‘Someday’ – Give Us A Call

Yeah, we know, there’s a lot going on. We’re so busy just getting today’s list of things shouting to be done, that we can’t think about adding “put the produced/by-product water to good use” on that list. 

But we can help you. At least add giving us a call or sending us an email to your list. We have a method ready to go. You’ll have LESS to do later, if you do this today.

Someday is here. Let’s do good for our lands. 

We’ll be talking to you soon. 818.470.0285

Going Green – What Are You For, Not Against?

We’ve been talking about going green for decades and decades and decades. We used to call it “ecology” – anyone old enough to remember that?

At some point, “green” became the way to express stewardship of our planet, environment, and land. And I think we all can agree that going green is better than ruining our lands.

We’re here to say that at Encore GREEN Environmental, we want to focus our energy and thoughts on two things:

1.    What we’re for.

2.    What we can do today, next week, next month.

Let’s take them one at a time.

FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU’RE FOR

Often, going green is defined as being what we’re against, such as being against fossil fuel as a source of energy. But we want to focus on what we’re for – at Encore Green Environmental, we’re FOR stewarding the land and have come up with Conservation By-Design™, which transforms industrial by-product water (produced) and gives it a beneficial-use purpose. This grows grassland, enriches the soil, and creates carbon sequestration, which is removing unwanted carbon from the air. 

We’re for doing all that. What are you for?

FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW

Often in our zeal to go green, we imagine ideal scenarios where vehicles run on renewable energy and there is no need for fossil fuel. That’s a goal. But it’s one that will require a transition of an entire planet’s way of using energy. So, goals are good. But we need solutions we can act on today.

If you’re ready to be for conservation today, give us a call. Let’s go green now. 81.470.0285.

How’s That Water Scarcity Working Out For You?

Over 40% of the United States is considered arid land. If you live in a non-arid land, then water is always right there when you turn on the kitchen tap. You might even hear that people “somewhere else” experience year-round aridity and frequent droughts. 

But if you live in the western US, then you know how valuable every little drop of water is. You know that there just isn’t enough water to take care of homes, businesses, ranches, and farms. And providing water to land for conservation sounds like a luxury we simply can’t afford when our most valuable currency is water.

But not anymore.

Encore Green Environmental, along with partners, has announced the ‘Just Add Water’ Initiative which turn arid states into non-arid states. Yep, just like that, we just add water and change our very existence.  Read about it by clicking the button.

You see, the arid states happen to overlap with the major oil producing states. And that’s the opportunity. These oil producers are pulling up hundreds of millions (yes, hundreds of millions) of gallons of water a year. The water comes out as part of the process of getting the oil out of the ground. And do we use that water to solve our aridity problems?

No, we throw away that water down an injection well.

In the 1930’s when injection wells first started, it was maybe a good idea. But now we have better technologies to clean the by-product water and a one-of-a-kind method called Conservation By-Design™. Together, we can take this massive volume of water in the arid states and put it on the ground for conservation and ag — and if they are using this cleaned ‘beneficial-use’ water, then they aren’t draining water from the aquifer. And if that’s not all, added vegetation growth like grassland releases more oxygen and pulls the undesirable carbon out of the air. 

So, what’s stopping us? Tradition? A reluctance to do the hard work to figure it all out? Maybe even a concern over one’s job if things change?

At Encore Green Environmental, our tradition is doing what’s right and best for the land. And, we’ve done the hard work to figure it out. So, we’ve solved your problems. Give us a call – ask us a question. We’ll talk about it. 818.470.0285

Waste is Such a Waste

You know what some people call industrial by-product water? They call it ‘wastewater.’ 

As if any water (yes, even that nasty water you’re imagining) should be wasted. You know that even the sewers and septic tank water gets cleaned up and put to a beneficial use. So, why do we call the oil field water that’s produced as part of pumping crude oil “waste”?

Well, at Encore Green Environmental, we don’t call it that. We call it “by-product water” because it’s a by-product of oil production. We kind like to keep things simple . . .  

Some like to call it “produced water” and that makes a little more sense. However, the oil company did NOT get a permit to pump or produce water. They are permitted to do their main business of getting the crude oil out of the ground. Water is just a headache for them; that’s why it’s easier to just waste it down an injection well or evaporate it in a pond. 

No, water is NOT to be wasted. We customize solutions using our patent-pending method of Conservation By-Design™ to clean the water and then apply it to the ground to grow things like grassland. And if you grow things, the soil gets better, and the air quality gets better. It all gets better because we don’t waste the by-product water.

So, let’s stop tossing it away. It’s a waste we can’t afford.

Give us a call. Let’s talk about it. 

818.470.0285

For Ag, Every Day is Earth Day

If you’re a farmer or rancher, April 22 is just another day on the calendar because every day is Earth Day. At Encore Green Environmental, we’re an agricultural company who ultimately serves and stewards the land, the ground, the soil, terra firma – the Earth.

It’s good to celebrate the Earth, even if that means different things for different people.

·     For some, it’s a religious experience who sees Mother Earth as a force or goddess.

·     For some, it’s a celebration of a political opinion.

·     And for some, especially in ag, it’s a celebration of the soil and ecosystems that make breathing, eating, and living possible. Plus, well, we kind of like the way dirt feels to the touch. 

If you’re an environmentalist or in the ag industry or maybe you make policy or maybe you’re at an oil company, let’s do something for the Earth. Give us a call. We customize solutions to take industrial by-product water and use it to expand conservation, sequester carbon, and grow things.

You can read about our Just Add Water Initiative and how we can do it for you.

So, give a call. You know, for the sake of the earth.

818.470.0285

Think Different – Even About Water

A while back, Apple ran an ad campaign called “Think Different.” We say that it’s time to apply this thinking to how we increase conservation.

“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” 

We’ve been called many of those things when we’ve said that by-product water can be cleaned to match the soil and then be applied in order to grow things. 

But what does that matter? The important thing is to serve other people by ignoring conventional wisdom and by thinking differently.

You with us? 

#thinkdifferent #justaddwater

“Meet the Experts” Interview with Darlene Nash

Encore Green Environmental wants you to know all there is to know about increasing all the benefits that come from applying cleaned industry by-product water to the arid land. So – we want you to meet our team of experts that are aligned with us.

Today, we hear from our owner, Darlene Nash.

EGE

Darlene, briefly describe your role at Encore Green Environmental.

DARLENE

I’m the owner of Encore Green Environmental, which I started with my husband Marvin in 2017. Being a startup, I tend to wear quite a number of hats, but I focus on keeping us heading in the right direction. That’s my main role. We have a great, but small team, and so I also just pitch in where needed. The other day, I made labels for jars of clean air. 

EGE
Jars of air?

DARLENE

Right. It was to make a point in a meeting that when you grow things, the air gets more oxygen and less carbon. It was an attention getting joke. But if you’d like to purchase some jars of clean air, just give me a call.

EGE

Tell us a little of your background and what brought you to start the company?

DARLENE

I’ve been around animals most of my life, initially training animals for the circus and for movies, most famously training the horse for the movie, Pippi Longstocking. 

When Marvin and I married, I then handled his bookings as a rodeo clown and then later, the two of us produced school programs about staying off drugs and the effects of bullying. A few years ago, I published my first book, Bullying Hurts, to give parents and others very practical help to deal with bullying. 

The idea for Encore Green Environmental came when Marvin worked at a midstream company and we’d talk about options for what to do with the enormous amount of by-product water. Our son, Skeeter, worked with Marvin hauling water and he had some of the initial ideas surrounding it.

EGE

What has drawn you to your field of expertise? That is, what’s your motivation for your work day in and day out?

DARLENE

It kind of drives me crazy to think that we’re just throwing this by-product water away. 

In one year, the oil industry has to deal with 890 million gallons of this water. And nearly all of that is literally tossed down the drain. Wyoming alone tosses 70 million gallons. And places like New Mexico have exponentially even more water to deal with. I guess if we had plenty of water to go around, that’d be one thing. But here in the West, we live on arid land.  It’s just crazy to throw away water when it’s so scarce and valuable.

We are all smarter than this. And people are finally coming around to hearing it. That’s why our solution of Conservation By-Design has arrived at just the right time. 

We can clean up that water – right there, near the oil wells that are sitting on arid land. Then, let’s increase conservation by growing things on that land. The soil is better, air is better, the aquifers aren’t being drained for other industry or ag, and it’s all because everything gets better when you just add water.

That’s why our company’s slogan and the name of our new initiative we’re doing is called ‘Just Add Water.’ 

EGE

Tell us more about the ‘Just Add Water’ Initiative.

DARLENE

It’s a coalition of ourselves, the Wyoming Stock Grower’s Association, Beneficial-Use Water Alliance, and the University of Wyoming’s Center of Excellence in Produced Water Management. We want to encourage all the stakeholders, from the oil companies to the landowners, to the environmentalists, to get on board cleaning this water and applying to the land. 

EGE

What’s the one thing you’d like the reader to remember about you?

DARLENE

I guess that I’m a mother and grandmother trying to make a difference in this world.

Everything’s Better When You ‘Just Add Water’

At Encore Green Environmental we’ve kicked off our initiative called ‘Just Add Water.’ It’s a simple idea – instead of disposing of industrial by-product water into injection wells, let’s clean it up and apply it to the arid, thirsty land.

Over 40% of our nation is arid and most of that is in the western states, which also happens to be the major oil producing states. This intersection of where we need water (arid lands) and where we have too much water (oil wells) is our unique opportunity.

You can read all about it by going hereand downloading our free pdf called ‘Just Add Water’ Initiative. You don’t have to sign up and we don’t collect your email or anything. It’s just a downloadable pdf that will outline what we mean when we say everything changes by adding water.

Go here: 

EncoreGreenEnvironmental.com/resources

You’ll be glad you did.

Conservation By-Design - The Animation!

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, then a short piece of animation has to be worth at least a million! So, here’s a million words that explains how Encore Green Environmental can use their proprietary methodology, Conservation By-Design to take the millions of gallons of industrial by-product water and put it to good use for ag and conservation.

See, we think throwing water down an injection well is just a waste. But if we re-purpose that water and grow things on previously arid land, then everyone wins. All we have to do is ‘just add water.’

Take a look at the short video!