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Manure management is
a big deal at Lamb Farms.
Between all the farms, we have to handle about 45 million gallons
(197,000 tons) of manure every year.
Manure is currently put back onto the fields as fertilizer.
Here at Farm 1, this building houses the separators that make the
manure liquid enough to effectively manage our irrigation system.
All the manure from the barns on this farm goes through this building
before going to a storage lagoon and then to the field. |
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The green
auger system seen here is a McLanahan sand separator. The separator
uses water to separate the sand used for bedding from the manure.
The smaller green auger feeds the separator sand laden manure from
the pit below where it enters from the barn.
The separator is the big green auger. Clean water is injected at
the top @ 2 gals/minute and recycled water is injected at the bottom
@ 20 gals/minute.
Sand is then dropped into a pile at the end of the auger and the
manure exits the separator at the bottom of the auger.
Manure then circles through the settling basin to a receiving pit
below the floor where it is joined by manure from the sawdust bedded
barn.
Settled solids and sand are cleaned out of the settling pits with
a loader. |
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After being joined
by the manure from the sawdust bedded barn, all the manure is then
pumped up to the twin Integrity solids separators.
As the manure flows down through the U shaped screens in the separator,
a wheel with a brush on it pushes the solids through the screen
and out through an auger where it is piled outside. The liquid portion
of the manure then falls into the pit below the separators and is
pumped to the third lagoon.
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The diagram to the right shows the flow of manure through the
system.
The blue arrows show the flow of the sand laden manure that enters
from the barn on the right.
The red arrows show the flow of the sawdust laden manure as it
enters from the barn on the left.
The red dotted lines show the outline of the sub surface tanks.
75% of the sand is reused as bedding while 25% escapes the system
and either ends up in the solids pile or in the lagoon.
Capturing 75% of the sand is the key to making this a cost effective
system. We have found that using very coarse sand works the best
for this system. Also, by removing a portion of the solids, we
are able to irrigate more of the manure rather than truck it to
the fields, saving both time and money.
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This 100'x100' pad
stores sand and lets it cure before putting it back into the stalls
for bedding.
Solids are augured out of the building into the corner just in front
of the loader.
This pad will be expanded in the near future and this will also
be the area where a methane digester will be added if and when technology
and economics become favorable. |
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A manure solids truck
rounds the back of the barn headed for the pad to pick up another
load of solids off the Integrity separator. |
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The manure
from the separator building is pumped up to a long, tapered, 2nd cement
settling basin where it overflows into a 3,000,000 gallon lagoon.
This lagoon has three 15hp aerators on it. The aerators help maintain
the liquidity of the lagoon by keeping the water at the top.
The water off the top of this lagoon is pumped down to the separator
building and into the bottom injectors on the sand separator. Keeping
this water fairly free of solids is critical to the effectiveness
of the sand separator.
Manure then overflows this lagoon into the main 15,000,000 gallon
storage lagoon where it is sent to the field. |
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Manure from
the lagoons is sent through irrigation pipes to a drag line where
it is injected into the soil.
A meter on the injectot unit ensures that the proper amount of manure
per acre is applied.
Managing nutrients to maximize crop production and maintain good land
stewardship practices is very important at Lamb Farms.
Manure application records are kept and used to plan for next year's
fertilizer needs. |
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A Houle, portable
solids separator is used for irrigating at Farm 2 and the heifer
facility.
This separator is powered by its' own electric motor.
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