News

Dairy Farmers of America, Vanguard announce digester alliance

A nationwide dairy cooperative is working with a renewable energy company to make anaerobic digesters more available.  Dairy Farmers of America President of Farm Services David Darr tells Brownfield Vanguard Renewables has the technology and experience to help producers process waste while helping the environment and their bottom line.  “They are working with farms today that range from 250 cows to farms that are milking and caring for 2-3 thousand cows, and we’re seeing opportunities not in every state, but we’re seeing opportunities for smaller farms and bigger farms to be able to take advantage of new, emerging, improving technology.”

Darr says many farmers would consider generating methane gas and electricity from manure but don’t know where to start.  He says the partnership with Vanguard helps them see what is feasible.  “There are many different types of anaerobic digester systems that can be developed and built based on, number one, the size of farm (and) number two, the geography of the farm, and just the other environment that the farm works in.”

He says some farms use the digesters to process their own farm’s waste.  Others are generating revenue by accepting food waste to process with manure.

Darr says many farms generate enough electricity to power their facilities and sell the excess to a local utility.

 Additional information about manure and nutrient management is available from the dairy checkoff-funded Newtrient LLC, here.

Brownfield’s Larry Lee talks with David Darr about DFA’s alliance with Vanguard Renewables and anaerobic digesters.