The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Dairy Management Incorporated (DMI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the development and utilization of anaerobic digesters on more dairy farms in the United States.
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says with current technology, a herd of 700 dairy cows can generate enough electricity to power 200 homes. “Unfortunately, today only two percent of the farms are utilizing this dairy power.” The cost of construction is a major roadblock for digesters. Vilsack says while USDA has offered funding for them in the past, “Less than 150 have been funded by USDA, we obviously have to do a better job and this MOU will give us an opportunity to do so.” The Secretary says the agreement will allow USDA to use various grant and loan programs to help dairy producers build more digesters.
Another objective of the project is to cut greenhouse gas emissions along the dairy supply chain in the United States by 25 percent by the year 2020. Secretary Vilsack made the announcement from Copenhagen, Denmark where he is attending the U.N. Climate Conference. He says they look to use conservation funds and renewable energy dollars to help fund digesters and work with the dairy industry to advance research into the science as well as make dairy producers aware of the programs.
Ag Secretary Vilsack talks about the MOU:
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