Chad Veldman isn’t afraid of adopting new technologies on his farm.
Veldman owns and operates a dairy farm near the village of Embro in southwestern Ontario, where he manages a herd of about 90 milkers. An early adopter of solar power with a goal of making his farm more self-sufficient, he was eventually intrigued when he started learning about manure processing technologies such as separators and digesters. Not only can they help decrease a farm’s fertilizer costs, but they can also help to dramatically shrink an operation’s environmental footprint.
Seven years ago he invested in a GEA XPress manure separator and vertical extract. The stainless steel fiber separation system is designed to separate manure into its solid and liquid components.
Veldman uses the system primarily to create high quality and comfortable “green” bedding for his cows. Think of it as an example of a circular economy in which a product that is often considered to be waste is transformed into a valuable resource.
The way the system works is that manure is fed into the separator where a series rollers squeezes it and separates it into its liquid and dry components. The dry material, or non-digestible fiber, is then placed on a conveyor belt which transports it to a robotic system that installs it as bedding for his cows.
Veldman says the average person wouldn’t notice a difference between his bedding and most other bedding products. “It almost looks like straw. There’s a lot of full-length pieces of straw in it,” he describes. “The way the rollers are, is they’re very gentle on the fibers. They don’t churn them at all. Anything that goes through it, comes out whole.”
Not only does the separation system mean Veldman now spends less time and money sourcing and hauling bedding for his cows, but it can also reduce manure hauling expenses and it requires less storage space than other types of bedding.
Separators aren’t the only type of processing equipment that can help producers save money – or even generate new revenue. Others, including various types of on-farm digesters, have been the talk of ag headlines for years. Some data even suggests that manure-based processing projects have increased by as much as 50 percent in the last decades.
But many experts say it is still underutilized in much of North America.
Considering the benefits such technology provides, the question then becomes: why aren’t more farmers adopting this technology?
Beyond the headlines
Rebecca Larson, a professor and extension specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in manure management, says there are several reasons for adoption not being as widespread and rapid as one would have homed.
Cost is one of the primary reasons, she says. In addition, while it’s easy to determine what the cost of purchasing and installing this technology might be, it remains much more difficult for producers to find information on what the cost benefits or ROI of using it is – since that data is not always readily accessible.
Amir Sadeghpour, associate professor of soil fertility at the University of Illinois, says another challenge is that some manure processors such as digesters are highly sophisticated and require a high degree of expertise to install and maintain. “You have to be really technical or have folks working with you that are more technical and that means they’re probably more expensive to manage,” he says. Plus, manure can vary in terms of quality, which makes it difficult to predict the quality of the outputs produced.
Some farmers also aren’t comfortable with the technology just yet, he says. “I think the issue with my style of system is a lot of people are scared of mastitis [an inflammation in a cow’s udder that can result in decreased milk production]. Just wrapping their heads around the idea of bedding with manure doesn’t sound right. But I think once you get your head around that idea and you see the products, I feel like a lot of people kind of change their attitude towards it.”
Still, Larson is encouraged by the fact that several studies seem to indicate the interest in adopting manure processing technologies is trending upwards.
Why producers are saying ‘yes’
One such study conducted by noted professor Meredith Niles indicated more than 50 percent of surveyed dairy farm operators are interested in installing manure processing, with nine per cent particularly interested in installing separators. This same study indicated 15 percent of those surveyed used manure separation, while another study published in Wisconsin in 2017 showed more than 50 percent of larger farm operators are using some kind of manure processing in their facilities.
Sadeghpour believes there are several reasons why a growing number of farmers are starting to take a closer look at manure separation technologies. Numerous grants and inventives from federal and state levels have incentivized adoption in the U.S. And not only do farmers want to be profitable, but they also want to be good neighbors, he adds.
“Farmers want to use that manure source to reduce their costs or inputs,” he says. “At the same time, the farmers want to be sustainable. Through these technologies, we should be able to utilize manure more efficiently in a way that we reduce environmental footprints, but at the same time utilize it the best that we can to create a circular economy for the farms.”
Next on the horizon
Larson points out that a number of recent advances in manure processing technologies have also helped attract the attention of a growing number of farmers.
There have been numerous advances in manure dryers that reduce moisture and pathogens in solid manure or separated solids and reduce risks for reuse (primarily as bedding) and storage. On the liquid side, more advanced separation systems such as ultra-filtration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) are now being used to treat manure by separating it into clean, reusable water and nutrient-rich concentrate fertilizer. There are also several emerging technologies that use electro-chemical processes now being used to convert manure into concentrated nutrients, fertilizers and energy while reducing environmental impacts such as emissions, odor and water pollution.
Sadeghpour and researchers from the University of Illinois are currently investigating the use of dissolved air flotation (DAF) to see how effective the water treatment process is in drawing out elements like phosphorous from manure. The goal is to determine if this process could effectively replace the phosphorus that is needed by a crop such as corn instead of using triple superphosphate or monoammonium phosphate.
Sadeghpour and researchers from the University of Illinois through funding from Dairy Manure Inc. (DMI) are currently investigating the use of dissolved air flotation (DAF) to see how effective the water treatment process is in drawing out elements like phosphorous from manure. The goal is to determine if the manure produced could effectively replace the phosphorus used in common phosphorus fertilizers for crops such as corn.
“So far, we’ve seen that it does a really good job. I think the next step would be, [making it] so that it could be used commercially,” he says.
One piece of advice from Larson is to be patient. It can often take some time before a user will be able to quantify the benefits from it. “Usually, only people with advanced knowledge get their separation system to operate exactly as they want when they first install it,” she cautions. “Even if you put [manure] through the same process, the process is going to be different because the manure is different.” She also suggests producers determine what they want to use the technology to accomplish before choosing a specific model. “It’s exciting to pick the technology. But it leaves a lot of farmers feeling confused. The data isn’t always clear as to what I should be picking and for what reason,” she says. “What I recommend to producers is try to outline what you’re trying to change, what is the problem that you’re trying to fix. That can really help you identify the technology that can address your needs.”
Sadeghpour recommends producers check out what kind of incentives may be available to them from their federal or state government. They should also do their homework to determine all the benefits the technology could provide on their farm, including building soil health, to determine if it’s a good fit on their farm. “You need to look at it holistically.”
Veldman acknowledges the up-front cost can be a concern. But, he says the ongoing costs for a system like his are minimal since it doesn’t require much electricity to operate and annual maintenance costs are nominal. In fact, he says the system has already paid for itself and then some.
He’s hopeful more farmers will come to see the benefits of the technology for their own farms. “A lot of people just don’t want to be the first [to try something]. But I’ve found in the last there’s a lot more interest in it around here. In the last year I’ve had more people come out and look at my system than what I had in the first six years.” •
