Indiana dairy farm with new manure management approach

Abbotsford, BC – July 1st 2019. Windy Ridge Dairy in Indiana has successfully implemented a nutrient recovery system. The system processes the manure from the farm’s 8,000 Holstein cows, and converts it into concentrated nutrients and clarified water. “Storing and handling liquid manure is very expensive, and if not done correctly, it can create environmental risks. A nutrient recovery system solves these problems”, explains Kerry Doyle, CEO of Trident Processes Inc. The Abbotsford, BC based company had previously provided a bedding recovery system at Windy Ridge, about two years ago.

Both systems are now fully integrated. “In fact, the separation of fiber is a critical pre-treatment step to the nutrient recovery”, adds Doyle. Steve Bos, owner of Windy Ridge Dairy, comments “It allows us to reuse the recovered fiber as bedding material in the stalls. This is another important detail in our sustainability program; and it certainly helps us reduce our operating costs.”

Operational efficiency and sustainability

Operational efficiency and sustainability are two key objectives at Windy Ridge. And both are the main reasons why Bos decided to invest into his farm’s manure and nutrient management system. “The Trident system allows us to generate operational savings and I also believe that traditional manure handling under-utilizes the valuable nutrients”, adds the third generation dairyman. The dairy now captures a high percentage of the nutrients found in the manure, which completely changed how Bos and his team look at manure. He explains, “We currently have a solid demand for the recovered nutrients in our area alone. In the future we’ll be able to develop a more comprehensive business model to market them.” The clarified water is reused partially on the farm. The rest is sent as nutrient deplete liquid to the farm’s lagoon, and from there irrigated back onto the fields.

Image 1: Indiana dairy Windy Ridge recovers nutrients and water from the manure that the farm’s 8,000 cows produce. The system is a critical component in the farm’s sustainability program.

Flawless commissioning

RC Ludke, President at Trident Processes was onsite during the start-up. “The system’s commissioning was very smooth. We started up at 7am and just a few hours later switched successfully to automated mode and were operational”, summarizes Ludke. He continues, “to commission a 300,000 gal per day treatment system in such a short time seems daunting, but our team is very experienced and the farm team had done a great job preparing the site.” Dairyman Bos concludes “A good relationship with our vendors is very important for us and Trident has been an excellent partner for us”.

Trident Processes made headlines about 5 years ago when it was one of the first companies to install a commercialized, fully automated nutrient recovery system on a dairy farm in North America. Trident has continued to advance its disruptive zero-waste technologies, which was recognized at the White House in Washington D.C. during the EPA Nutrient Recycling Challenge in 2016.

About Windy Ridge Dairy

Indiana dairy Windy Ridge is a 8,000 cow free stall dairy in Fair Oaks, IN. At full capacity, the farm produces about 25,000 gallons of milk per day. The farm’s nutrient recovery system processes about 300,000 gal per day liquid manure from their barns.

About Trident Processes

Trident Processes is a leading provider of bedding and nutrient recovery technologies as well as manure separation equipment. The company is honoured to be a recipient of the EPA Nutrient Recycling Challenge Top10 Awards and the 2018 Canadian Business Excellence Awards.

Media Contact: Frank Engel, Trident Processes Inc., frank.engel@tridenttnz.com 1.604.330.2500