Dairy

Updated IDF Guide to Good Animal Welfare in Dairy Production released

At the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Global Animal Welfare Forum in Paris, the International Dairy Federation (IDF) in collaboration with the OIE and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released the updated IDF Guide to Good Animal Welfare in Dairy Production.

Devising an effective sampling program for dairy manure

Manure contains ample amounts of nutrients and is considered to be an integral component of dairy farm nutrient management. Significant amounts of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) as well as small amounts of trace minerals are present in dairy manure and can be utilized as a main source…

Showers limiting days for spreading livestock manure

The frequent rain is filling up manure ponds and lagoons across the state.

Rain falls, and that might make some farmers happy, depending on the time of year.

Moving forward with manure application in less than ideal conditions

Weather impacts both manure application and loss of nutrients on crop utilization.

New technology a game changer for Wisconsin dairy

Son-Bow Farms is comprised of freestall barns, which have a flush flume that runs down the middle of the barns. Prior to the installation of the AQUA Innovations system, the manure and sand-laden manure were flushed into manure tanks and manure storage.

Four years ago, dairy farmer Jay Richardson and his wife, Kristi – owners of Son-Bow Farms in Northwest Wisconsin – sat down for a heart-to-heart to discuss the future of their business.

Using worms to manage dairy manure

Washington dairy owner, Austin Allred, operated a pilot version of the BioFiltro wastewater treatment system for two years before investing a couple million dollars to construct an industrial-sized version that is meeting his expectations.

Earthworms eat biological material in the soil to survive. Now, their abilities are being put to work by a company called BioFiltro. They are used in a controlled environment to clean liquid manure waste streams in a matter of hours where it would otherwise have taken weeks.

IA DNR investigating manure spill in Clinton County

Clinton, IA – While doing a follow-up check on manure application just north of Clinton on September 12, an official with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources found manure in a tributary of Silver Creek flowing into Silver Creek and about three miles to the Mississippi River. The manure came…

WI DNR assisting with manure spill on reservation

Green Bay, WI - State, county and Oneida Nation staff are responding to a large manure spill causing a fish kill in Silver Creek on the Oneida reservation about four miles west of Ashwaubenon. The spill occurred on a dairy farm located west of the Outagamie-Brown county line. It was…

Managing barn scrapers contributes to dairy safety, hygiene

Dirty cows have a negative impact on milk quality, including greater chances of getting mastitis and a high somatic cell count. Dirty cows usually mean a dirty tail, and dirty tails can come from dirty stalls. Since the ban on tail docking of dairy cattle, managing manure for cow hygiene…

Spring Valley farm takes new approach to manure management

A new, state-of-the-art system for managing dairy manure with an all-mechanical separation process in operation at Son-Bow Farms near Spring Valley is sure to be of interest when dairy producers from throughout the region hit the road mid-July, for the Wisconsin Dairy Tours.Son-Bow Farms, which milks 1,300 cows and operates…

First of its kind robotic bedding system installed on Wisconsin dairy farm

The Dukelow family from Dukestead Acres, near Abbotsford, Wisc., has installed a track system to bed the operation’s freestalls robotically with recycled manure solids.

In the summer 2017, the family-owned and operated Dukestead Acres dairy farm, located outside of Abbotsford, Wisc., wanted to add onto their milk barn.

First farm in Wisconsin to launch AQUA innovations manure management system

Sharon, Wisconsin – AQUA Innovations is proud to announce Son-Bow Farms as the first farm in Wisconsin to install its fully commercialized NuWay nutrient concentration system. The company has had systems running in other states, such as Oregon, for nearly eight years.The AQUA Innovations NuWay nutrient concentration system eases the…

High-tech phosphorus removal

The USDA team finished tests on the pilot scale unit at the start of 2015 and built the full-sized machine later that year. It features two auger presses instead of one, a larger decanter centrifuge and larger storage/mix tanks than the pilot-scale version.

Farmers and manure managers in North America have known for years that phosphorus is a huge concern, but solutions for handling this nutrient have not come easy. Hauling manure away to locations where fields aren’t already saturated isn’t always practical or cost-effective.

OR dairy fined $16,800 for manure spill

February 15, 2018, Tillamook, OR – An Oregon dairy has been fined $16,800 for a massive manure spill that shut down Tillamook Bay last spring. About 190,000 gallons of liquid manure were released from an above-ground storage tank at the dairy operation on April 12, 2017, the Oregon Department of Agriculture…

CA government awards funding for alternative manure management projects

February 1, 2018, Sacramento, CA – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has awarded $9.64 million in grant funding to 17 alternative manure management projects across the state. These projects, part of the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), will reduce greenhouse gas emissions on California dairy farms and…