Helping Wisconsin dairy farms produce ‘brown gold’
In the heart of Wisconsin, a project is underway to produce energy from a resource in little danger of running low: cow manure, also known as "brown gold." Although some manure can be used as fertilizer, nutrient imbalances and pollution caused by manure runoff can create environmental problems. Large dairies produce up to 25 tons of manure each day, which requires millions of gallons of water to manage. Thanks to a $7 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Biomass Research and Development Initiative, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have partnered with several Wisconsin companies to form a consortium that is piloting new methods for turning dairy farm manure into useful products. Jamison Watson, Troy Runge, and Kim Huong Pham examine a manure sample being prepared for separation by Zong Liu. Photo: Matt Wisniewski The consortium's first major project, the Accelerated Renewable Energy Project (ARE), has already been implemented at Maple Leaf Dairy, located in Manitowoc County. Home to 5,000 cows, the dairy is helping UW-Madison researchers study manure processing techniques and technologies that could also benefit other Wisconsin dairies.
