Join host Kimmi Devaney and dairyman George Dick from Dicklands Farm and Dicklands Biogas in Chilliwack, British Columbia, for a conversation about building and managing a digester, their genetics strategy and the evolution of their facilities over the last four decades.
Learn more about their digester by visiting their website.
Season 8, Episode 16
Episode breakdown:
- [~0:40] History of Dicklands Farm and what inspired the family to start dairying again in 1988
- [~1:35] Evolution of facilities from 1988 until now
- [~2:00] How robots have changed their farm
- [~4:50] How data from the robots and other technology is utilized in management decisions
- [~7:00] What they would change if they built new facilities today
- [~8:40] Genetics strategy
- [~12:05] Other genetic traits they are prioritizing
- [~13:50] When and why they added the digester
- [~16:10] The process of building a digester
- [~18:55] Where they get the food waste for the digester
- [~21:15] Receiving frozen products
- [~23:00] The most rewarding part of owning a digester
- [~24:35] Digester tours
- [~26:50] Tour FAQs
- [~28:30] Questions dairy producers should be asking when considering adding a digester to their operation
- [~31:15] Running a digester as a separate business with different employees
- [~32:00] Fertilizer pellet as a byproduct of the digester
- [~35:30] Rapid-fire questions
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