Dairies finding a renewable resource in manure waste

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

May 5, 2005 - Dairy producers often have difficulty trying to control animal manure and liquids which contain an abundance of phosphorous. To help dairy producers decide how to handle their organic solids and lower phosphorus content, the Comanche Extension office held a Dairy Manure Technology Tour on April 26 at two different dairy farms near Comanche.

At Beukeboom Dairy, owner Frans Beukeboom runs a freestall dairy with 1,100 cows. Beukeboom, who is originally from Holland, has owned his dairy since 1997.

"Since I was little, I wanted to run a dairy," Beukeboom said. "My dad ran a dairy in Europe, but they have quotas for dairies in Europe. So, I came here to start my dairy."

Beukeboom's cows, most of which are Holstein, each produce 73-74 pounds of milk a day. A dairy truck comes by every 16 hours to collect the milk, which is stored at 36 degrees, and contains 3.5 percent fat and 3 percent protein.

"My milk is mainly sent to Houston and San Antonio where it is sold as H-E-B milk," Beukeboom said. "With good management practices, we are able to produce a lot of milk."

Beukeboom feeds his cows a mixture of cotton seed, corn flakes and hay, as well as other nutrients.

"The cows get a good nutritional value," Beukeboom said.

Manure from the dairy cows is collected by a vacuum that sucks up the manure from the scrape alley. Besides donating the excess dairy manure to surrounding farms, Beukeboom uses some of the manure to fertilize his hay pasture.

Sam Feagley, professor and state soil environmental specialist, spoke about using the manure as a fertilizer. Phosphorus promotes eutrophication, so you must be careful not to add too much of it to the soil, or there will be an excess amount of phosphorus on the crop.

"He (Beukeboom) uses a rainfall simulator, so the water is treated before it goes on the field," Feagley explained. "It catches the rain and the pump sends it to be weighed. Every ounce of water is measured and it determines how much phosphorus you can put on the field."

Dr. Tamilee Nennich, Comanche Extension dairy specialist, spoke about what is actually in manure.

The vacuumed manure on the Beukeboom Dairy has a solid content of 10-20 percent, which is called manure slurry.

"Sometimes if it (manure) looks hard, it's still probably 80 percent water," Nennich said.

The average yearly nutrient excretion for a cow producing 75 pounds of milk per day is 354 pounds of nitrogen, Nennich said.

"Half of it is organic and the other half is inorganic. And, it volatilizes," Nennich explained. "The cows excrete 62 pounds of phosphorus and 164 pounds of potassium per year, and that phosphorus and potassium is not being lost. There is a significant amount of nutrients to deal with in a dairy and it's great to be able to find a way to get rid of some manure as a renewable resource."