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What can be one of the largest hurdles with a larger dairy is managing manure. Cows produce a lot of manure and at Mercer Vu Farms Inc. we took manure handling, environmental impact and odor control seriously when we designed our new dairy. We wanted a system that would allow us to meet our CAFO regulations as well as being environmentally and neighbor friendly. |
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We will begin the tour at the top of each of our freestall barns. At the top of the barns are two 32 foot water towers seen here. These towers are filled with recycled water which is one of the end products of our manure system. |
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At each of the three milkings per day in each group, the milker pushes a button at the top of the barn in the group getting moved to the milking parlor. This button begins a 10 minute delay, after which time has elapsed, opens a valve outside of the barn. When the cows are out of the barn the valve opens, releasing water from a 16 inch pipe that runs between the two water towers and along the top of the alley. The water towers provide head pressure that sends 14,000 gallons per minute of water down the alley. The flush continues for 50 seconds and then stops. |
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The freestall barns are built on a 3% slope which allows the flush water to flow down the alleys to the other end of the barn, where it is collected and piped into the manure system The flush carries all manure and sand that is in the alleys.
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