Documents, Tools and Resources
Manure Cover Pays for Itself in Quality of Williamsburg Family
by Tracy S. Petersen, ISU Extension Communications Systems
If you ask Gary Boland, there's more than one way to recover
business expenses. The Williamsburg pork producer takes an
alternative view when considering the costs of his synthetic
manure cover. From a financial point of view, the cover may
never fully pay for itself. In terms of quality of life, the
costs are already covered.
In 1998, after he expanded his operation to a 2,000-head
nursery and 4,000-head finishing operation, Boland decided
to address the odor issue. "The nursery we added southwest
of the house smelled worse than we thought it would," he said.
Flipping through a magazine, he landed on a rubber and plastic
sheet designed to cover a manure pit and to trap odors. It
took a year to design and install the system that covers a
14.5-foot deep pit that measures 120 feet by 120 feet. The
cover is held aloft by foam float logs, and secured at the
edges with 4 inches of dirt in a U-shaped trench.
The system was designed with the help of AgSTAR, a program
jointly sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Department of Energy.
The AgSTAR program provides tools, guidance, and methods to
help confinement operators recover methane.
Once the system was developed, installation was a neighborhood
affair, Boland said. "The cover came in a very large crate," he
said. "Twenty neighbors helped lay it out and place the float
logs in it. Then we used a rope and a tractor in each corner
to pull it into place."
Now, nearly 2 years later, the $20,000 effort was worth it,
said Boland, who raises hogs for Premier Swine Breeding Systems.
He networks with Tom Gilliam, Newcastle, Oklahoma, who does
the farrowing. "It's helped immensely," Boland said. "Some
days it cuts the odor by 80 percent and on others it cuts it
100 percent."
It's not surprising that the response from neighbors has been
positive. "I've got good neighbors," Boland said. "Nobody ever
complained to us about the odor. But now that I have the cover
on, they all tell me the odor is less."
Now that the cover is installed, the maintenance is minimal. "I
have some tape to patch the holes," Boland said. "Other than
that, all I have to do is keep the weeds mowed to keep the
rodents out." The cover is expected to last 10 to 15 years.
During the summer, when more methane is produced, the excess
gas is burned off. Boland said his pit does not produce enough
methane to make harvesting it feasible. However, the nutrient
value of his manure has increased since he put the cover on,
helping to offset the cost. "My hog manure has outyielded commercial
fertilizer," he said. "I haven't bought fertilizer for 2 years." Boland
noted that he tries to inject all of his manure on his 500
acres of cropland.
Boland and his wife are ambassadors for the Iowa Pork Producers
Association and speak often about their operation and odor
management system. They've played host to an array of visitors,
from European producers to staff members of Iowa senators Tom
Harkin and Chuck Grassley.
Many U.S. producers are interested in odor management systems
but consider the cost prohibitive. Boland received some financial
assistance from the Odor Control Demonstration Project. Administered
by Iowa State University and funded by the Iowa Legislature,
the project was created in 1997 to demonstrate odor control
technologies. Participating producers received up to half of
their expenses for the odor control technologies used on their
operations. "If the swine industry ever gets more profitable,
I think these systems may get more popular," Boland said.
Reprinted with permission from the Fall 1999 issue of the
Iowa State Extension Bulletin.
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