Operating, Calibrating, and Maintaining Animal Waste Management Systems

1. Operating, Calibrating, and Maintaining Animal Waste Management Systems

2. Next Generation Science/Common Core Standards Addressed

3. Bell Work/Objectives • Describe the principles of waste management systems. • Identify animal waste characteristics. • Explain operating practices used in animal waste management. • Describe the calibration of waste management systems. • Explain the maintenance procedures for waste management systems.

4. Terms • Anaerobic • Earth basins • Pits • Semi-solid manure

5. Interest Approach • Display a quart jar of manure to students. Ask them what it is and what it can be used for. Lead a discussion concerning the importance of waste management systems.

6. Objective #1 What are the principles of waste management systems?

8. Principles • All waste starts with a source • animal, milk house, lot run-off • All systems end in the soil • All systems include investment, labor, convenience, aesthetics, and regulations • No system is best, all have advantages and disadvantages • depends on personal preference, available capital & labor, waste sources, soil type, cropping practices

9. Regulations • Federal, State, and Local regulations attempt to minimize or eliminate pollution. • Well-designed system can achieve these goals. • Federal regulations apply to all states and operations considered commercial in size. • State and local regulations can impose stricter requirements on holding capacities, application times, ground water protection. • Zoning & Public Health laws can affect design, construction, operation, & management of manure disposal systems.

10. Characteristics of animal waste. • Properties depend on species, ration digestibility, protein & fiber content, age, environment & productivity • Waste with 20-25% solids is handled as solid • 10 - 20% solid, handling depends on type of solid • 4 - 10% solid, handle as a liquid w/ special pumps • 0 - 4% solid, handled with irrigation pump or flushing

12. Objective #3 What are the operating practices used in animal waste management?

13. Waste Collection • Consider the type of facility, labor, investment, and total waste handling. • Solid & semi-solid can be collected with tractors scrapers, front end loaders, or mechanical scrapers • Liquid can be collected with scrapers, flushing systems, gravity flow gutters, or slotted floors.

14. Slotted Floors • Separates waste from livestock. • Materials, spacing, & width depends on manure and experience with slippage, feet injury, and other animal responses. • Consider initial costs, predicted life, use, strength, corrosion, noise, and replacement cost. • Waste beneath the floor is removed with water into a storage lagoon.

15. Solid floors • Sloped solid floors aid in manure movement towards gutter or slotted area. • Animals traffic tends to work the manure down slopes of 4% or more. • Steeper slope can cause footing problems.

16. Types of slatted livestock flooring.

17. Collection Methods • Shallow manual gutters • involve manure being hand scraped outside or into a pit every day to control odors • Mechanical Scrapers • reduce manual labor depending on storage and cleanliness required • Flush System • large volume of water flows down a gutter • water recycled in lagoon, earth basin, holding pond • timeliness of flushes depends on accumulation

18. Transporting • Transporting from animal facility to storage facility involves large piston pump, pneumatic pump, centrifugal pump or gravity. • System selected depends on farm’s characteristics, housing system, bedding practices, labor, and storage system.

19. Handling • Manure can be handled as solid, semi-solid, or liquid. • Amount of bedding or dilution of water influences form. • Form influences selection of collection, storage facility and spreading equipment.

20. Storage - Site selection • evaluate site and soil conditions • avoid locating unlined facilities over shallow creviced bedrock or below water table • avoid storing in sandy or gravely soils • consider soil to a depth of 3’ below storage bottom • check for buried utilities & drainage tiles • consider surroundings and prevailing winds • allow 100’ between water supply and facility • locate for all year operation and access • provide enough storage capacity

21. Liquid Manure Storage • Pits • have vertical sidewalls, lined and are below grade • either in the building or outside • Earth basins • earth walled structures formed by excavation • partly above and below grade • may or may not be lined • low to moderate investment • eliminate hazardous gas entrapment

22. Liquid Manure Storage • Above ground tanks • more expensive than earth basins • good alternative when an earth basin won’t work • work well for an enclosed building • Anaerobic lagoon • biological treatment for biodegradation • anaerobic process occurs without free oxygen • decompose more per unit than aerobic • give off a musty odor

23. Semi-solid Storage • Semi-solid manure • manure with excess liquids drained off and some bedding added to increase solids content • allows waste from many sources • can be outside with picket dams to drain off rain water • hauling schedule is flexible

24. Solid Storage • Used where manure dries sufficiently or enough bedding is added to make it stackable.

25. Manure spreaders!

26. Applying Solid Wastes • Should distribute waste uniformly with the proper equipment • equipment need to be water tight for road use • spreader mechanisms include paddles, flail, and augers • feed apron should be variable speed • drive is either ground or PTO

27. Flail Spreaders • Flail-type • tanks with open tops • shaft mounted on top, parallel to main axis • chain flails on shaft throw waste out the side

28. Applying Liquid Manure • Spread on fields by tank wagons, applied with irrigation equipment or digested in lagoons before being applied.

29. Objective #4 How are waste management systems calibrated?

30. Waste Management • Manure can improve fertility and crop yields. • Sampling for nutrient content is recommended. • Poorly handled manure can degrade water quality and cause a nuisance. • Rates of application should match crop nutrient requirements. • Record keeping is necessary for the manager. • Compliance for Federal, State, & Local regulations is essential.

31. Soil Physical Properties • These influence application rates • water infiltration • water holding capacity • soil texture • total exchange capacity

32. Preventative Maintenance • Preventative Maintenance should be given priority to reduce the chance for breakage, costly repair bills and loss of time. • Adequate and timely adjustment, repair, protection from weather, and clean-up determine life of any machine. • Consider potential flooding and runoff when designing storage systems.

33. Clean-up • Timely equipment clean-up is necessary. • Manure that is allowed to buildup will decrease life of equipment. • High pressure washing is necessary to extend the life of manure handling equipment.

34. Review • What are the principles of waste management systems? • What are the characteristics of animal waste? • What are the operating practices are used in animal waste management? • How are waste management systems calibrated? • What are the maintenance procedures for waste management systems?

35. The End!