Oxford County custom operator mixes applications with innovations.

“Do you consider yourself an innovator?”

For the majority of those involved in agriculture, the answer to that question usually comes with a slight pause, and a humble, “No.”

Larry Bearinger is certainly humble, but he knows that he is an innovator. For nearly 30 years, he’s been the face and the force behind Pumped Environmental Services, a custom applicator of manure and nutrients, operating in northern Oxford County, southeast of Tavistock. During the growing season, you’ll find him and Luke Clarke, his assistant, putting in long days covering Southern and Midwestern Ontario. While they’re on the job, Bearinger is busy envisioning new and reworked designs for machinery, always striving to improve existing equipment and processes. In the winter months, he and Clarke fabricate and retool those ideas into workable systems.

Growing up on a mixed farming operation provided Bearinger with hands-on training used to enhance his custom application business. His father was a machinist and shared that knowledge with his son, who then went to work in industrial applications. Larry became a certified mechanic and earned his farm equipment license in the mid-1980s, then started his own business later that decade, repairing farm and industrial equipment. In the mid-1990s, he bought into a commercial spreading business.
“At that time, liquid manure equipment was not designed specifically for manure,” says Bearinger. “It was water irrigation equipment that was modified for manure. The thing that attracted me to custom application was that the payment was based on production -that is, gallons pumped. Any equipment modifications that increased efficiency had a direct increase on profit margin without increasing costs to customers.”

“We offer a system that generates its own wi-fi signal.”

Custom manure application is definitely the main business, although there are times when he and Clarke focus on custom equipment building. With 28 years invested in custom application and designs, Bearinger fields requests for equipment modifications and complete equipment builds. He’s also been building wireless control units since he bought into the business. Initially, it was a primitive system using an FM two-way radio to shut down the system after completing a section in the field (while still using an irrigation gun). Today, with more advanced cellular and internet technology, he can build and offer simple control systems operated on a smartphone.

“We offer a system that generates its own wi-fi signal and can be adapted to the drag hose systems or anything remotely operated,” he says. “Our system uses both a tablet in our spreading unit and also an app on my cell phone.”

Small steps
In 1998, Bearinger was faced with the dilemma of applying manure across a road where there was no culvert to thread a drag hose. He consulted with transportation and roads authorities and built a solid pipe system to connect hoses to either end for pumping manure. Several restrictions came with using the unit: Bearinger couldn’t block the road for the day and school bus and emergency routes had to be accessible at all times. It also reduced traffic to one lane and he couldn’t leave the unit unattended or on the road overnight.

“We were limited as to what road we could use it on,” recalls Bearinger. “It was basically designed for secondary roads. That said, it’s still used for some jobs today -after 27 years.”

To solve the restrictions issue, he designed and built an overhead road crossing unit, which he first saw at the 2012 North American Manure Expo. Initially, he thought that design looked awkward, requiring hydraulic cranes for set-up and Bearinger believed it was created for use over four-lane roads. At the time, the evolution of the industry didn’t support its use.

Shifting trends and technologies
Farm sizes have continued to increase, nutrient management practices have been implemented and technologies have evolved, even as Bearinger’s business has grown and become established. The advent of GPS technology and electromagnetic flow meters have created more precision for manure management, in measuring fields and accurately gauging applications. There are apps that enable set-ups via satellite before work begins.

“The need for accurate application is constantly being refined,” he adds, noting a calculator used to be an essential tool. “Today, smartphone technology has advanced many aspects; a built-in calculator can be used to double-check application rates. Memorized formulas can be used to calculate manure tank volumes and applicator rates.”

While farms were getting bigger, there was a demand to become more creative with manure applications. Installing an underground pipe was considered a good option, provided there was the opportunity to cross a road at the same place every time manure’s applied.

“The need for accurate application is constantly being refined.”

But the underground approach carried several concerns: manure is corrosive and an underground pipe is less visible and often harder to detect for potential leaks. Culvert piping itself can corrode over time and jagged edges can damage rubber drag hoses as they’re pulled through, possibly causing manure spills into drains or ditches. That fact convinced Middlesex County -among other jurisdictions -to ban the use of culverts as conduits for drag hoses.

“A culvert is also part of a surface drainage system and ties into a subsurface system through a catch basin or a Hickenbottom drain,” explains Bearinger. “Routing a hose through a culvert and past a catch basin has the potential for a catastrophic problem if a hose were to break and put manure directly into the drainage system.”

Back to the future
The answer was to revisit the overhead road bridge concept -something that wouldn’t interfere with traffic. Before he could begin any type of fabrication, Bearinger wanted to examine several different designs. A bridge system would enable crossing a road where it’s convenient for them -away from catch basins or tile inlets. It also meant taking a more direct route with set-up between a manure pit and the field where it’s applied; that meant less energy to get the manure to the field using less fuel while cutting carbon emissions.

“Even as Road Bridge 1.0 was being fabricated, design changes were being made,” says Bearinger. “Having the unit so it could be used with a wireless control was easy, since I’ve been using and building projects with wireless controls since the 1990s.”

They started work on that first unit during the winter of 2023-24 completing it after field tests in June. Bearinger wanted to ensure there were no quirks before using it across a road as part of his custom application business. It was a success and he and Clarke put it to work for a few months before a farmer approached him, offering to buy it.

The next generation
That’s when work on the Road Bridge 2.0 began and it’s continuing into 2025.

“It incorporates a heavy structural design and also has a wide footprint on both sides of the road for stability,” says Bearinger. “A mechanical lock ensures the unit stays in place and a sliding axle design makes transport easier.”

The Road Bridge has other uses, including farm laneways, where milk, feed or livestock trucks might be interrupted. The Bridge allows that flow of traffic -and the application of manure -to continue without affecting schedules.

Bearinger notes the Nutrient Management Act provides a base of guidelines for manure application, but it’s a starting point; training for GPS, wireless controls, spreading strategies and manure safety go above and beyond that. Setting up the Road Bridge also requires additional training, where permits are needed at certain times. The Ontario Professional Agri-Contractors Association (OPACA) has become an organization representing contractors in the province, advocating and networking on behalf of its members.

Introducing the Hose Humper
Revolutionary ideas are often called “game changers”, and Larry Bearinger has created some and has become one in the field of custom applications. With Pumped Environmental Services, he’s established himself as a leader in equipment manufacturing and modifications, on top of his application business. Yet he’s always searching for something to improve efficiency in his operations.

“Five years ago, I came up with the idea for a unit called a ‘Hose Humper’,” says Bearinger, who built it on a loader. “It has a big pulley on the front of a tractor and it pushes and pulls the drag hose. The tractor pulls less hose across the field and that limits compaction.”

He and Luke Clarke, his assistant, can operate at different angles in the field allowing for more complete coverage without over-applying on the headland, while pumping more gallons in less time. With the old system, they’d spend nine hours pumping and five hours moving equipment. With the Hose Humper, that same 14-hour workday entails 11 hours of pumping with only three hours of set-up, creating a better return-on-investment, using less fuel with no downtime.

“There’s also less hose damage, which usually happens when laying out or picking up the hose,” says Bearinger, noting the life of a drag hose ranges from two to four years. “This unit has become a game changer for the operation.”