Checking on the pigs is a job Bart Vanackere knows to do well. In compari- son to tradition- al pig farming, he expects his way is slightly more labour- intensive.


Liquid feed production with three boilers, waiting to be connected. These will be used to process vegetable waste.


For that reason, he will soon take additional measures, such as installing an air scrubber. That will cost an additional € 140,000, but it’s not a total waste of money, he says. “The climate inside the pig house is better and the separated ma- nure is very useful.” The thin fraction will be applied on his own land, and the thick fraction will be used in a mono- fermenter – a second innovation at this farm.


The manure fermenter processes 8.5 tonnes of solid manure. Every week, the digestate will go to a processing installation.


The installation has been running on the farm since mid- 2018, and the roaring gas engine in one zone of the pig house will deliver about 25 kWh of energy. Things are run- ning well, but the system is not yet reaching its full potential of 33 kWh. Vanackere says, “Foam creation on the manure has been the problem.” From 12 feeding sessions, 8.5 tonnes of manure can be added


▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 36, No. 1, 2020


www.pigprogress.net/ worldofpigs


15


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