Dairy Recycling Fights Drought « Back

Drought or no drought, it’s a fact that dairy farm families are committed to caring for and protecting the land that we live and work on. Water conservation and manure management are part of the everyday best management practices on our dairy farm.

Since 1985, our farm, Anglin Dairy, has utilized a manure handling system designed by engineers and soil and water experts to guide manure handling from storage to transportation to land application. As part of our farm’s manure nutrient management plan, water used in the milk parlor or drained from the feed barn is collected into a large lagoon located at the end of the feed barn. Recycled water from the lagoon is perfect for applying to a crop field or pasture anytime but especially during a drought.

With no rain in sight anytime soon, it was decided to irrigate the field of Bermuda grass closest to the lagoon. Irrigating the field with lagoon water is a great example of recycling and striving to be sustainable on the dairy farm. Preparing to irrigate requires moving the pump to the lagoon bank, laying the irrigation pipe from the pump to the field and setting up the hose reel and spray gun. It takes patience and farm team effort to get everything positioned and functioning!
Although we have no control over weather or drought conditions, thankfully, we do have sound science and research to guide our decisions to protect our natural resources and restore our pastures and crops that are damaged or destroyed from the drought.