Question: What are the two biggest factors affecting quality of recycled sand, regardless of the separation method? Answer: Sand type and water quality.

Every dairy farm, no matter the size, has to manage its production site waste. Production site waste, for the purpose of this article, is any material or its byproduct that requires routine management or handling and can be land-applied.

Storage of cow manure is a common practice on dairy farms. Each additional installation of a manure pit increases the probability that a fatal accident will result. Tragically, experiences in several states indicate that when an accident does occur, it is likely to involve two or three fatalities. Also, there have been several cases of large numbers of livestock perishing due to manure gases.

When planning a hose system or pipeline, we must know what the capabilities of our pump are and what the losses in our system will be. In a previous article "Understanding pump performance curves" we learned how to determine the capabilities of a pump. The pump provides energy as Total Dynamic Head (TDH) that supplies the system. Remember, TDH is measured in feet and can be converted to pressure as PSI by dividing by 2.31.

Manure can have value if managed correctly. This value can be spread out over multiple years. The first year, 30 to 40 percent of the nitrogen (N) is available along with almost all of the phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). The second year, 10 percent of the N from the first year's is available and P and K not used in year one will still be useable. Year three has 5 percent N and any remaining P and K available for use.

When a manure spill resulted in a large fish kill, officials in Dane County wanted to be able to address the issue of manure and water quality without hindering the dairy industry. A public/private partnership led to the creation of a community digester in Waunakee, Wisconsin.

Anaerobic digestion is a natural process where solids are broken down into a slurry and gases in an oxygen-free environment. In nature, this continually happens on the floors of bodies of water. Similarly, a cow’s digestive system turns feedstocks into manure and biogas, a methane-containing gas that is expelled into the atmosphere.

Imagine what our landscape must have looked like, not really all that long ago. Tens of millions of bison roamed the American plains in clusters so large one could have seen them from space. These immense, grand herds would devastate each valley they came through. A flowering meadow would turn into a moonscape overnight. If a valley was lucky, it would see a full year or more before the bison returned, so it could attempt to recover from such an onslaught.

Question: What is the purpose of freestall bedding? Answer: To provide a cow a clean, dry resting surface. Especially, this means creating an environment where exposure of teat ends to attack from mastitis-causing pathogens is minimized. Veterinarians and your family doctor alike will tell you: Minimize exposure to minimize infection rates.