|
- Move to sand bedding helped cow comfort but created disposal issues.
- New manure management systems reclaims 90% of sand.
- Recycled water replaces need for fresh water.
By SARAH MUIRHEAD
 WHEN Vern Scherping started with 54 cows on a farm he bought in 1985 eight miles from Little Falls, Minn., little did he envision some day expanding to 825 Holstein cows with plans to go to 1,200 on a 30-acre footprint surrounded by wetlands.
That kind of setting makes manure management a challenge, especially when there is no room for a lagoon either on the land available or in depth, given the area's high water table.
In 2004, Scherping, his wife and their three sons moved the cows to a freestall setup and started using sand bedding to allow for greater cow comfort. In doing so, though, he became concerned with ways to reduce or eliminate the sand that ended up in the manure.
As a result, the Scherpings started looking for a way to clean and reclaim the sand bedding. They needed a better system for handling the manure from the larger herd, and the sand mixed in with it was a potential roadblock to further expansion that they wanted to overcome.
Whereas they once pushed manure down the center lane to a reception pit and hauled it away three times a week in their old stanchion setup, the Scherpings needed long-term storage and a new manure and sand recycling solution for the freestall barn. They approached Genex Farm Systems in Melrose, Minn., and talked to Matt Silbernick.
"The Scherpings needed a manure solution for 800-1,200 cows that included separating the sand from the manure -- all in a relatively confined space," Silbernick said.
The system they ended up with is one of the most state-of-the-art manure management systems in the U.S. It features:
* Long-term storage. Two Slurrystores (90 ft. x 28 ft. and 176 ft. x 28 ft.) for manure containment also provide room for another 176 ft. x 28 ft. unit when the operation goes to 1,200 cows. The units provide 10 months of manure storage; the extra unit will extend that to 12 months of storage. The farm also has a Harvestore unit for high-moisture corn storage. Rations are silage and haylage based, with dry hay, high-moisture corn and some dry corn.
* Recycled bedding sand. A Parkson Sand Saver efficiently reclaims more than 90% of the sand bedding (70-75% is typical with other systems). The Scherpings used to bring in 12 truckloads of sand a week at $75 per load; now, they have only needed four loads of new sand since installation was completed in January. Overall, they are reclaiming 97% of their sand.
* Clean, recycled water. Water is recycled through the Slurrystore decanting system and Parkson Rotostrainer screen, providing all wash water required for sand cleaning. If all fresh water were used, it would require 60,000 gal. per day that is now replaced by recycled water. No fresh well water is needed to power the contained system, saving wear and tear on the well pump and maintaining groundwater levels. Recycled water includes water from the parlor and the feedlot when it rains.
* Better soil fertility and easier manure application. The Scherpings now use a dragline to inject manure into the soil instead of hauling it. The nitrogen nutrient value delivered to the soil has increased on the 1,400 owned and rented acres of corn and alfalfa.
* Better herd health. Other benefits include a reduced somatic cell count -- due to cleaner sand, there is almost no mastitis in the herd -- that dropped from 220,000 to 120,000, resulting in better overall herd health and milk production. The farm boasts a 25,000 lb. rolling herd average with 3.2% protein and 3.8% butterfat.
* Wetland protection. With no lagoon and the newly contained system, there is no spillage or runoff into the area's protected wetlands or streams.
The environmentally sound Scherping farm has earned 5-Star Dairy Certification, an award based on evaluation scores for milk safety and quality, environmental stewardship, dairy animal care, personnel management, dairy beef quality and pathogen management.
"People think the bigger farm you become, the more you pollute, but that's just not true," said Vern Scherping. "The bigger you get, the more state regulations you have to follow, and we want to be good to the environment."�����
At a total cost of $1.5 million, he calculated that the entire installation will pay for itself within 10 years. The Parkson Sand Saver, the heart of the system, will alone pay itself in a few short years, according to Steve Oracz, market development at Parkson.
"Sand lanes were out of the question from the start for them," said Oracz. "The Scherpings wanted the best system they could get. The Sand Saver is saving them a considerable amount of money while giving them the clean, recycled sand that can go back into the barns quickly, without a weeklong waiting period."
County and local officials said the Scherpings' dairy operation could not have been expanded without a way to manage the manure and separate and clean the sand bedding. | 
