FOR RELEASE: March 14, 1997
Contact: Blaine P. Friedlander, Jr.
Office: (607) 255-3290
Internet: [email protected]
Compuserve: Larry Bernard 72650,565
http://www.news.cornell.edu
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a 20-mile radius of York, N.Y., more than 30,000 dairy
cows on 100 farms produce as much sludge as 1.5 million people. But with
the help of Cornell University agricultural engineers, the community
literally may soon clear the air.
The community around York will hear a report on Monday, March 24, on the
feasibility of a central plant that would remove manure odor, recycle
manure for value-added products, improve dairy waste management and perhaps
provide energy back to the community. All this, and it would more than pay
for itself, too.
William Jewell, Cornell professor of agricultural and biological
engineering, will present a report "Evaluation of Anaerobic Digestion for
Groups of Dairy Farms in Upstate New York," at an open meeting March 24 at
the City of York Town Hall, 2668 Main St. York is located north of
Geneseo, N.Y., in Livingston County.
Due to space limitation, the 10 a.m. presentation will be for dairy
producers and individuals closely associated with dairy production. The 11
a.m. presentation will be for the general public.
The report was compiled by Peter E. Wright, Cornell senior extension
associate in agricultural engineering; N. Peter Fleszar, former Cornell
research support specialist; and Amy Safinski and Adam Zucker, Cornell
undergraduate students in agricultural and environmental engineering. The
study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource
Conservation Service.
"The dairy industry is being challenged more than ever to provide better
waste management in the areas of pollutant run-off, volatilization of
methane and carbon dioxide, and odor control," Jewell said. "Our study
examined the feasibility of a centralized facility in the York area, which
would be able to generate electricity from the methane, and return the
digested, stabilized material back to the farm."
Currently, there are over 100 anaerobic digesters, as the central plant is
called, in operation on farms in this country -- and nearly half use design
information generated at Cornell, Jewell said. The largest system was
built in 1982 -- for 15,000 dairy animals all on one site -- which paid for
itself within two years.
The use of anaerobic digesters is not new; in fact, the concept has been
around for decades. Digesters essentially oxidize organics in manure
(which is 90 percent water) and remove the odor, so that the organic matter
effectively "cooks" itself within several days.
What is new is the concept of reclaiming the nutrients or the fiber back
from the manure, and turning them into "value-added" products. For
example, by using the reclaimed by-product of manure as "bedding," farmers
could grow certain high-protein plants to feed their cattle on a fraction
of the acreage.
Jewell believes that with the technical improvements in manure management
for dairies with fewer than 600 cows -- that is using a centralized
processing facility -- savings from manure storage will offset the costs of
the facility.
"While there are obstacles, there are also benefits that may interest the
community and the dairy farmers," Jewell said. "The pollution control and
increased management efficiency of a centralized facility -- serving
smaller dairies in the York area -- could pay for itself," Jewell said.
Small centralized facilities, operating in Europe for more than a decade,
process a combination of animal and commercial waste, Jewell said.
The idea for York is but a small start. Jewell found that a cow on a
600-cow farm could generate about $400 of total by-products annually. Once
the manure byproducts are reclaimed, he said, that cow could generate as
much as $500 annually.
"We're making the odor disappear, the manure disappear, we're adding value
to manure byproduct, and we're trying to do all this while minimizing the
cost," Jewell said. "Manure can be a high-value product."
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