Manure

A recent court decision carved a giant hole in farm liability insurance.

It’s a hidden, silent danger on a growing number of farms across the U.S. Each year, manure pit-related incidences claim lives of farmers and their family members across the nation – and as more and more producers begin to implement these tools on their operations, the number is sure to rise. 

This summer, the EPA proposed a new set of regulations aimed at curbing methane emissions. This announcement has drawn a sharper focus on methane, a greenhouse gas almost 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Plenty of things have changed in the world of dairy farming. Advancements in milking systems mean that robots, not people, can perform the several-times-per-day task of milking cows.

Utilizing manure as fertilizer is one common approach to capturing the inherent value in manure and reducing the costs of off-farm inputs. But the approach has its limitations; particularly in situations where there is more manure than can be responsibly managed on the available land.

There are many things a farmer can do to help the environment. In the dairy industry, utilizing anaerobic digesters to capture methane gas and produce electricity is a primary way to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While dairy farmers can actively take measures to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint, those efforts are not always economically viable.