OCTOBER 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Centrifuge helps farms tackle


nutrient concerns Strategies needed to meet management plans


by DAVID SCHMIDT ABBOTSFORD – Nutrient


overloading is becoming more of an issue on BC dairy farms. Herd sizes are increasing without equivalent increases in farm landmass. Dairymen are bringing more grain and other feedstuffs onto their farms but continuing to spread the manure on their limited land base.


Since the grain is bringing


more phosphorus and other nutrients onto the farm than are leaving the farm in the milk, it is resulting in a buildup of surplus phosphorus in the soil. Many people expect it is only a matter of time before government imposes additional manure usage regulations to counter the buildup. They note most European countries, American states and even Canadian provinces already have much stricter regulations governing nutrient use than exist in BC. So what options do farmers have to manage their nutrients and lessen the impact of excess nutrients on their croplands? That was the aim of a recent trial of a mobile centrifuge nutrient separation system funded by the BC Dairy Association and the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. “We rented the machine


(from Centrisys of Wisconsin) for five weeks and tried it on seven farms so we can see patterns,” explained project co-ordinator Matt Dickson of Hållbar Consulting. Environmental Farm Plan advisor Dave Melnychuk says they hoped to determine how well the system works in BC conditions and assess the marketability of the solid product it produces. He believes there is a huge potential market, saying organic producers “want the nutrient content.” “In the best of all worlds, this machine pays for itself with the product sold off farm.” Many dairy farmers already


have systems to separate solids and liquids in the manure. However, their primary purpose is to take the large solid fibres out of the manure so the liquid can be spread more easily, either through liquid manure tanks


or through hose reels and irrigation guns. The solids are then spread using solid manure spreaders or used to create bedding on-farm. Dickson notes these conventional systems have a much lower nutrient extraction potential than centrifuge technology. Melnychuk says the centrifuge system works with both raw and processed manure. It will divide a raw manure with 8% dry matter into a liquid with only 2% dry matter and a solid component with 24% dry matter. “The centrifuge system


extracts 50 to 65% of the phosphate from the liquid fraction,” Melnychuk says. “Adding a polymer can increase that to 80 to 90% of the phosphate.”


Although the machine only


processes up to 25 gallons per minute, Melnychuk says that’s enough to handle all the manure from a 500-cow herd. Mounting it on a trailer means a custom operator can service a number of smaller farms. Farmers had a chance to see the equipment in operation during a mid-March open house at Cedarbrink Farms in Rosedale, the last of the seven farms in the trial. Alfred Vandenbrink of Cedarbrink already has a solid-liquid separator and uses the solids to produce bedding for his 550-milking cow herd. However, he sees a potential benefit in the new technology. “Most of the phosphorus is in the solids and this would allow us to get the phosphorus into a manageable product we can take to Merritt (an hour’s drive away) where we grow alfalfa for our herd,” he says, noting the Merritt area is currently phosphorus- deficient.


Dickson is also actively


involved in the promotion of on-farm anaerobic digestion but he and Melnychuk stress the centrifuge separator is not aimed at digester production. “A lot of the younger generation recognize nutrient management planning is going to come in and this is an option for them,” Dickson says. “It allows farms to meet


Over 300 exhibitors covering 200,000sqft.


21


Environmental farm planner Dave Melnychuk inspects the solids emitted by the Centris centrifuge manure separation system during an open house at Cedarbrink Dairy in Chilliwack last spring. Hållbar Consulting trialled the system at seven Fraser Valley dairy farms. DAVID SCHMIDT PHOTO


nutrient management plans, add more cows and be more sustainable,” Melnychuk adds. Until those plans are


required, uptake will be slow. “When farmers are


required to do nutrient management plans, it will


drive adoption of this technology,” says BC Ministry of Agriculture dairy and hog specialist Tom Droppo.


January 25th-27th, Celebrating 20 Years


2018


Showcasing state of the art equipment & technology for the agriculture Industry.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48