Manure-o-nomics  

cows enjoying the comfort of a compost bedded pack barn  (click to enlarge)

NRCS is teaming-up with Highfields Institute ― a non-profit organization that promotes and advances soil security ― to establish a composting bedded manure pack demonstration site using materials commonly found on dairy farms so farmers and government agencies could learn more about on-farm composting practices.  NRCS is developing operational maintenance and management requirements and standards for compost bedding as well as a manure composting management practice.

With the producer’s budget and cow comfort in mind, composting bedded manure packs provide an alternative type of housing for dairy cows.  Manure is collected in a covered, heavy-use area free from rain and runoff.  More cost-effective than scraping a barnyard down and removing manure to a holding system, in a compost bedded manure pack, the waste is added to the bedding material.  As bedding material is added throughout the winter, the pile builds up and composts producing heat to warm the animals.  When spring arrives, the compost can be safely stored until it is applied to crops as environmentally-friendly fertilizer.  Incorporating cattle slaughter and mortality waste in the composting process is also being investigated.

A well designed and properly managed bedding compost pack barn provides an adequately ventilated, dry, healthy environment for cows that also helps reduce somatic cell count, increases milk production, and saves labor and manure handling costs.  Feet and leg problems and other barn-related health issues are also reduced.  Applying the environmentally-friendly compost to fertilize crop completes the natural composting cycle.
Your contact is Anne Hilliard, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 802-951-6795.