Operating, Calibrating, and Maintaining Animal Waste

Management Systems

Next Generation Science/Common Core Standards Addressed

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.

Terms

• Anaerobic

• Earth basins

• Pits

• Semi-solid manure

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.

Objective #1

What are the principles of waste management systems?

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

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.

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

Objective #3

What are the operating practices used in animal waste

management?

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.

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.

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.

Types of slatted livestock flooring.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

Solid Storage

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

Manure spreaders!

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

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

Applying Liquid Manure• Spread on fields by tank wagons, applied

with irrigation equipment or digested in lagoons before being applied.

Objective #4

How are waste management systems calibrated?

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.

Soil Physical Properties

• These influence application rates– water infiltration– water holding

capacity– soil texture– total exchange

capacity

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.

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.

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?

The End!