Brown Bear describes the experiences of two dairy farmers, Mike Brown and Kelly Cunningham, who use composting to manage manure and generate revenue. Both farmers use Brown Bear compost turners and highlight the benefits of composting for environmental compliance, cost savings, and even profitability.
- Mike Brown, owner of Brown South Valley Dairy in Utah, emphasizes the environmental benefits of composting.
- Through a USDA waste management program, he was able to reduce water and solid waste leaving his dairy, thus minimizing contamination risks.
- The program helped Brown comply with regulations, a particularly important concern given the increasing development near his farm.
- Brown emphasizes the simplicity and ease of use of the Brown Bear compost turner, making it manageable even with untrained employees.
- The system is efficient, producing high-quality compost in about 12 weeks.
- Brown sells the compost under the brand name “Soil Booster” for $20 per yard, generating significant revenue.
Kelly Cunningham, a partner at Milk Unlimited Dairy Farm in Iowa, focuses on the economic advantages of composting.
- His farm uses a sophisticated system that includes a three-stage lagoon system, a slope separator, and a screw press to process manure.
- The composted material is then mixed with sawdust and used as bedding for the cows.
- Cunningham states that composting reduces the volume of manure by half, leading to significant cost savings on sawdust.
- He estimates that he saved $60,000 on sawdust in the first year of composting.
- In addition to the cost savings, Cunningham also highlights the environmental benefits of composting, such as reducing the amount of solids that end up in lagoons.
Both Brown and Cunningham’s experiences demonstrate that composting can be a viable solution for dairy farms to manage manure effectively, comply with environmental regulations, and even create a new revenue stream.
