Choosing a Manure Recycling System for a Dairy Farm with Tied Housing

Development and testing of new more effi cient and environmentally friendly waste management technologies is one of the priorities of agroecology aimed at introducing the basic principles of the sustainable use of natural resources. An example of such a technology may be the recycling of cattle manure into the bedding for farm animals. (Research purpose) Feasibility study of diff erent technological options for the production of bedding from manure under conditions of an operating livestock enterprise. (Materials and methods) In the study, three options of this technology were considered as exemplifi ed by a dairy farm for 100 milking cows: Option 1 – separation of manure into fractions followed by aerobic fermentation of the solid manure fraction in a drum-type fermentor; Option 2 – mixing the unprocessed manure with peat and its subsequent aerobic fermentation in a drumtype fermentor; Option 3 – mixing the unprocessed manure with peat and its subsequent aerobic fermentation in a chambertype fermentor. The author has estimated capital and operation costs as well as labour inputs and payback period. (Results and discussion) The number of facilities and equipment required for manure recycling and the resulting product storage has been calculated for each option. The author has made an economic assessment of the three options. For Option 1, the capital costs of implementation amount to 18.2 million roubles, operating costs – 8.9 million roubles, labour inputs – 5.1 man-hour per tonne, and the payback period – 2.1 years. It has been revealed that options 2 and 3 feature high capital costs, therefore, bedding production with the use of peat proved to be ineffi cient. (Conclusions) The study has allowed to determine the most effi cient and economically feasible technological method of manure recycling: manure separation into fractions with subsequent aerobic fermentation of the solid fraction in a drum-type fermentor. Options 2 and 3 have been found economically unfeasible.