Dealing with I - Brown Bear Corporation

1 DealingwithA custommanureman-agementset-up-includingt heBiolynk systembyDaritech -ismorethanexceedingthepromisedsolidscap turerateontheVolbedaDairyfarm, ,hiswifeLucyAnnandtheirtwosonsmovedfromC aliforniato takeoveranexisting400-acredairyfarmin Albany, ,theVolbedasgrewthedairyintoa ,800cows,raisedrystockona 'ssonRobhasaHolstein/JerseydairynearWest Salem,Oregon-VolbedaFarms-whereheis pro-ducingaward-winningcheeseunderthenam e"WillametteValleyCheeseCompany" newer,higher-techdairyhasexpandedaroundi t, includinga newparlor,a flushbarnthathousesapproxi-mately1,000co ws,as wellas a andthefarmexpanded,Johnbuiltfourlagoonst o5handlethemanurecapacity-92acrefeetin total."Westoppedseparatingabout15yearsag o,"saysDarren.

2 "Atthatpointmydad'stheorywasthatwe'djust pumpitintothelagoonandthenpumpit outeveryyear:'Thesolidsslowlybuiltup."We growcorn,butcan'tpumpthethicksolidsonthe cropandwehavea limitedtimeperi-odto getsolidsout,"explainsDarren." wastimeto dosomething:' ,exten-siondairyspecialistat OregonStateUniversity,workedwiththemto helpfinda solution."Wediscussedtheoptions,"saysGam roth."Therearevariouswaystocleana a moretraditionalliquidsolidseparator,butt hereis substantialcostassociatedwithalloftheman dhestartedlookingat newtech-nologY:'"Wehadtriedsidehillsepar ators,buttheydidn'tworkwellforus,"saysDa rren DarrenVolbedaOeft)andDaritech'sStevePeer ceat theVolbedaDairyinAlbany, numberof benefitsfromitsnewmanuremanagementsystem ,includinga constant,cleansupplyof freshwater,saysDarren.

3 " wantedto tryto findsomethingthatwaslessmaintenanceandth atI didn'thaveto worryabout:'At theOregonDairyConventionin2003,JohnandDa rrenlearnedabouttheBiolynksystembyDarite ch,whichthecompanysaidcouldcapturebetwee n50and70percentof that,anda guaranteed55percentcaptureratewaswritten intothecontract."I wasskeptical,"saysGamroth."ButItoldJohni f thecompanywaswillingtoputthatin writing,whatdidhehavetolose:'TheBiolynks ystemwasconstructedolidsbuild-upandbegan operationin Daritechsystems,it wascus-tomer-tailoredto (oneforeachbarn), ,theBiolynksystembeganwiththeconstructio nof a mainreceptionpit,45feetacrossand12 feetdeep,forallpitsto firstsightthesystemlookscom-plex,butit wasdesignedwithsimplicityin mind,bothin hasbasicallya ,at themainreceptionpit,a 40horsepowerHouleAgri-pumpagitatesthecon tentsandat thesametimefeedsit upto anAccentIFRS36separator,set26 feetin 3/16-inchscreen.

4 "Tomaximizetheperformanceof thisseparatorweover-feedit a 'ttakeoutgoesbackintothepitto gothroughagain,"explainsStevePeerce,a gravityfedintoa 26-foot,220,000-gallonprocessingtankat thetank' ,butbasedonthelasttestsiscapturingata at thebottom,thecleanwaterat thetopis themostimportantpartof thesystem,andit'scru-cialthatsolidshavet imeto settle,result-ingin minimalsuspendedsolidsat thetop."Thebalanceof manure,waterandtimingthatgoesoninsidethi stankiscritical,"explainsPeerce.''Thesiz eandshapeof thistankarebasedona num-berof 'tjustbuildoneof wouldtakea lotoftrialanderror."Thesolidsat thebottomof thepro-cessingtankaregravityfedintotwo, ,thetopliquiddecantsto thelagoonsandtheslurryfromthebottomflows intoa5,000-galionconcretepit.

5 "We'reusingit 'vemixedit ' 'regoingto doa lotmoreandhopefullysupplybeddingyearroun d:'Butbeddingis compostona largescale,theVolbedasputin a cementslab100feetby300feetnextto builda roofoverit thisspringandthat'swhereDarrenintendstos tartseriouslycompostingandcreatingasalab leproduct."Withthevolumeofcompostwe'rego ingto produce,I needto 'malreadytalkingto peoplewhoareinter-ested:'Toassistwiththe composting,theVolbedasdidtheirresearchan dboughtaBrownBearpaddleaerator."I wentwithitbecauseI cangetmorecompostin ,oncewehavea roofup,I wantto haveasmuchunderthatroofaspossible," FordVersatile9030."YouA bigshockforeveryonewastheamountof solidscomingoffthesepa-rators-approximat ely100,000poundsa 'smanagementplansto startcompostingthematerial,creatinga thepit,a Houlepumptakesthecontentsto thelaststage-aFanPS1780screwpress,whichs its16 feetin ,througha.

6 ,butbasedonthelasttestsis capturingat a 62percentrate:Peercesaysthecompanyis as pleasedwiththeresultsas theVolbedas."Thissortof systemis idealfora flushdairybecauseit ,it hasn' 'tusinganymorewaterthantheynormallydo:'D arrenhasalreadyseena numberof a constant,cleansupplyof flushwater."Wewereflushingwitha pumpourlagoonsas lowas wecango,andfortwomonthsoutof theyearwehadnoflushat allbecauseI hadto drainmylagoons:'Thenewsystemalsoeliminat edissueswithNutria,aninvasiverodentthatc hewedthroughpowercordsandhosesoutto solidscomingoffthesepa-rators-approximat ely100,000poundsa dayfrom2,200cows(equivalentto20,000+poun dsdrymaterial).'justto thinkt~atwewereputtingthatintoourlagoone veryday,it sortof wakesyouup,"saysDarren.

7 "Nowonderwe'rein theconditionweare:'Withall thosesolids,Darrenis quicklylearningthesciencebehindcom-posti ng."Wejuststartedcompostingthisfall," the5,000-gallonconcretepit,aHoulepump(ri ght)takethesolidsfromthethickeningtanksu pto forwardto backward, 'redoinga big,wetpile,you'rejustcreepingthroughtha tthing:'TheVolbedasarealsoworkingat get-tingtheirlagoonsbackin goodshape-twoin particularhavea substantialamountof willtakethreeto fouryears."We' getas manysolidsin hegothishighestyieldever:'TheVolbedaswou ldlikethelagoonsin goodshapebecausetheyarelookingto expandin thenearfuture-addingtwomorebarnsandmilki ngcloseto 3,000."WiththeBiolynksystemandthelagoons completelyempty,I cangetupto3,000cowsandnotworryaboutit:'D arrensayshewouldrecommendBiolynkto anyonewhowantedto removesolids.

8 "I havemorethanI knowwhattodowith,"hesayswitha smile."ButnowI'mdealingwithsolidinsteado f offtheplace, 'smygoal-whatI don'tuseas bedding,I wantto getoffmyplace:'StevePeerceemphasizesthat evenifanotherfarmdidpurchasethissystem,i twouldn'tnecessarilylookthesame:"Forexam ple,besidesmanagingflushwaterandsolids,i t canbeadaptedto feedadigester-offeringthedairymantheabil ityto 'sis definitelya customsystem:'