Livestock dung has always been a natural fertilizer for farmers since farming began. With nitrogen and phosphorous being discovered as a never-fail crop growing solution (in moderation) and livestock by-products being the number one fertilizer used for crops, farmers have teamed the two up in the farming industry.
However, as the demand for more food for the human population has increased, and the amount of manure drastically increasing in turn, farmers have had to think outside the box to utilize manure in the most efficient way possible. Extraordinary advances in technology have drastically evolved the way farmers use manure.
Here are three problems with traditional manure management systems and the major ways manure treatment systems are transforming the industry:
- The neighbors give you the stink eye. Literally. Odors are strong whether you have one livestock animal, or one thousand, so strong in fact, that they are easily carried straight into the neighbor’s front door.
Manure treatment systems help keep your neighbors’ noses smiling. Ammonia is a colorless gas that is exerted during inefficient conservation of nitrogen-rich by-products. Capturing ammonia is a big part of a water treatment system’s job. By capturing ammonia, not only does this help decrease the 60% to 70% loss of nitrogen during manure’s time in storage but also captures the pungent odors affiliated with this resource.
- Traditionally, manure is stored in football field-sized troughs fifteen feet deep. Huge trucks would plow through the land to obtain and transfer these large quantities of manure. This method damages invaluable soil and lessons crop yields.
An effective treatment system for “captures, segregates, and concentrates nutrients,” such as phosphorous and nitrate, says Livestock Water Recycling, a leading water recycling company originating in Canada. Concentrated material equals less volume and less solid which in turn eliminates the compaction of soil and increases crop yield.
- With these new advancements, farms become nearly water-self-sufficient by being able to recycle the concentrated and treated water obtained through the use water treatment systems for manure. Water use can include irrigation, cleaning and even consuming. This is something not even on a traditional manure operations’ radar.
Water recycling systems are an environmentally aware and cost-efficient resource that is revolutionizing the way we use and see poop. Who knew poop could evolve?