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Energy on the High Plains
Texas dairy looks to profit from earth-friendly practices
Cow: Moo!
Haslett: Milk producers historically have built dairies on the outskirts of big metropolitan centers. But exurban sprawl has pushed many dairies and related industries into rural areas. The high plains region has benefitted from this shift, thanks in part to the cool temperatures that dairymen and their cows prefer. Tom White has 500 cows at his facility. He says that the ready availability of feed is another reason behind the industry's growth on the high plains.
Tom White: Another advantage is the crops that we grow here. We grow- the highest percentage of corn grown in the state of Texas is grown in up the four-county area- Dallam, Hartley, Moore and Sherman County- so that's a big advantage to the dairyman, he doesn't have to freight. That's a big advantage to the farmer, he can ask a little more for the crop because he doesn't have to transport it as far. So it's can of a win-win situation between the dairyman and the farmer.
Haslett: What makes White's dairy noteworthy is that the facility is developing some 21st-century environmental practices. For example, it's common for dairies to stockpile their manure and sell it as-is for fertilizer. The Omega Dairy makes compost from its manure. The composting process begins with water from the dairy's well, which is first used inside to cool the fresh milk and then used outside to clean the stalls. The mix of water and excrement is then pumped into a building that houses a large, cylindrical separating machine. White's business partner Bob Pederson explains.
Bob Pederson: The cylinder has a whole bunch of holes in it- the waters fall though and the solids are augured to the other side, where it goes through a press and more of the water is pulled out. And then it's sent up and dumped into a dump truck that's outside the building. And then we take it off and make it into compost.
Haslett: While the used water is then pumped to center pivots that irrigate the dairy's fields of alfalfa, wheat and corn, the waste solids are mixed with other ingredients for compost. Compost is a much more effective fertilizer than raw manure. It's full of the aerobic activity that's also characteristic of good soil. Not far from the separator, a thick row of charcoal-colored compost is aerated by a large turning machine. A column of warm, funky-smelling steam rises from the compost as the turning machine makes its way down the row.
Pederson: The steam is the action of the microbes. They're doing so much work turning this manure and straw and other ingredients into compost that their bodies are giving off this heat.
Haslett: However, the long term plans at Omega Dairy go far beyond composting. White and Pederson hope to install a digester to process the manure. The digester would capture methane, which would then be used to generate electricity. The dairy has the potential to be energy-independent with such a generator. Meanwhile, CO2 from the process could be used to grow algae. The algae, in turn, could be used to create biodiesel fuel as well as provide a nutritious supplement to the cow's rations. In short, a nearly enclosed system. White began his career as an electrical engineer. Pederson's background is in environmental science. But they became partners because they envisioned the same thing- an energy independent and carbon-neutral dairy.
Pederson: One day we had an appointment to meet for lunch- I was coming in from New Mexico. I was thinking about how these things connect up and I sketched it out on an index card- I pulled over to the side of the road and sketched it out. Well, when we got to lunch, and Tom and I are talking, he starts sketching on a napkin. And- (laughs)
White: Which- any true engineer has to design on a napkin or he can't be an engineer.
Pederson: And as he was doing that, I pulled out little sketch that I'd made on the index card and we realized that we had the same vision.
Haslett: In Hartley, Texas, there's one dairy that hopes to show that what's good for the environment can be good for business, too. This is Mark Haslett, High Plains Public Radio News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
(2008-12-09)
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HARTLEY, TEXAS
(hppr) -
Mark Haslett: It's below freezing this December morning in the Texas Panhandle. That's not slowing things down at the Omega Dairy, where the milking machines are running full speed. Two dozen light brown jersey cows await their turn.
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Cow: Moo!
Haslett: Milk producers historically have built dairies on the outskirts of big metropolitan centers. But exurban sprawl has pushed many dairies and related industries into rural areas. The high plains region has benefitted from this shift, thanks in part to the cool temperatures that dairymen and their cows prefer. Tom White has 500 cows at his facility. He says that the ready availability of feed is another reason behind the industry's growth on the high plains.
Tom White: Another advantage is the crops that we grow here. We grow- the highest percentage of corn grown in the state of Texas is grown in up the four-county area- Dallam, Hartley, Moore and Sherman County- so that's a big advantage to the dairyman, he doesn't have to freight. That's a big advantage to the farmer, he can ask a little more for the crop because he doesn't have to transport it as far. So it's can of a win-win situation between the dairyman and the farmer.
Haslett: What makes White's dairy noteworthy is that the facility is developing some 21st-century environmental practices. For example, it's common for dairies to stockpile their manure and sell it as-is for fertilizer. The Omega Dairy makes compost from its manure. The composting process begins with water from the dairy's well, which is first used inside to cool the fresh milk and then used outside to clean the stalls. The mix of water and excrement is then pumped into a building that houses a large, cylindrical separating machine. White's business partner Bob Pederson explains.
Bob Pederson: The cylinder has a whole bunch of holes in it- the waters fall though and the solids are augured to the other side, where it goes through a press and more of the water is pulled out. And then it's sent up and dumped into a dump truck that's outside the building. And then we take it off and make it into compost.
Haslett: While the used water is then pumped to center pivots that irrigate the dairy's fields of alfalfa, wheat and corn, the waste solids are mixed with other ingredients for compost. Compost is a much more effective fertilizer than raw manure. It's full of the aerobic activity that's also characteristic of good soil. Not far from the separator, a thick row of charcoal-colored compost is aerated by a large turning machine. A column of warm, funky-smelling steam rises from the compost as the turning machine makes its way down the row.
Pederson: The steam is the action of the microbes. They're doing so much work turning this manure and straw and other ingredients into compost that their bodies are giving off this heat.
Haslett: However, the long term plans at Omega Dairy go far beyond composting. White and Pederson hope to install a digester to process the manure. The digester would capture methane, which would then be used to generate electricity. The dairy has the potential to be energy-independent with such a generator. Meanwhile, CO2 from the process could be used to grow algae. The algae, in turn, could be used to create biodiesel fuel as well as provide a nutritious supplement to the cow's rations. In short, a nearly enclosed system. White began his career as an electrical engineer. Pederson's background is in environmental science. But they became partners because they envisioned the same thing- an energy independent and carbon-neutral dairy.
Pederson: One day we had an appointment to meet for lunch- I was coming in from New Mexico. I was thinking about how these things connect up and I sketched it out on an index card- I pulled over to the side of the road and sketched it out. Well, when we got to lunch, and Tom and I are talking, he starts sketching on a napkin. And- (laughs)
White: Which- any true engineer has to design on a napkin or he can't be an engineer.
Pederson: And as he was doing that, I pulled out little sketch that I'd made on the index card and we realized that we had the same vision.
Haslett: In Hartley, Texas, there's one dairy that hopes to show that what's good for the environment can be good for business, too. This is Mark Haslett, High Plains Public Radio News.
© Copyright 2012, hppr
