Recycled Resting for Bode Dairy « Back

We at Bode Dairy are committed to the environment. As part of our commitment, we love to recycle!

This January, we began bedding our cows with separated solids. What in the heck are separated solids, you ask?!? They are the ultimate in recycling. The waste from our cows, our barns and the milking parlor is collected in an underground concrete pit. There it is thoroughly mixed with a big agitator…..like an egg beater! The mixture is then pumped to a screw press that uses an auger, screens and weights to squeeze as much liquid out of the slurry as it can.

The separated solids are then run through a fast-running blower that further dries and fluffs the solids. The next day this fluffy mixture that is now bedding is spread in a thin layer on top of the mattresses (that are filled with recycled, ground-up rubber tires), which gives the cows a more comfortable cushion to lie on. The new bedding also soaks up any moisture that is on the stall surface.

Before we started using separated solids, we were using sawdust and wood shavings for bedding. We would use a semi-sized load every two weeks and it was getting expensive. We thought the cows were using and resting in the stalls well before, but now with the separated solids on the top, the cows are using the stalls even more! Talk about going green!!!

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