Composting
as a manure management tool on dairy farms
Dr. John Pecchia
Ohio State University
The
Ohio Water Development Authority has funded OSU researchers to quantify and
develop strategies to minimize water usage for widely-used dairy systems in
Ohio. The dairies being evaluated
vary in size and manure handling practices, including wet and dry systems.
By decreasing liquids in the manure, the potential risk of environmental
contamination and the costs of manure storage and transportation are reduced.
Additional
goals of the research are to establish best management practices for composting
dairy manure with different bedding materials and to develop value-added
products from composted dairy manure. Current
research indicates that differences in bedding material affects the temperature
and oxygen, ammonia and nitrate concentrations, during composting as well as the
final reduction in volume and C:N ratio. Additional
research will evaluate the effectiveness of forced aeration on the composting
process. Although composting can
decrease transportation costs, produce a more stable material and positively
impact public perception, challenges include optimizing the process and
improving economics.