Going Green Smells Funny
Press Release for November 4, 2011
Cadets Get Crash Course in Industrial Biology
MAJ Brad Broskie’s Environmental Science class took a short trip to see the local Vanderhyde Dairy on October 27, 2011. Located on the other side of Chatham, the dairy is notable for both their milk and their 1.8 million gallon methane gas digester.
Basically, all of the manure produced from their 2041 head of cattle is moved to the digester where the bacteria that typically do this function in the cow's stomach continue the process in their insulated lagoon. As the gas evolves from the bacterial action, it is collected. The methane is then run through a generator where the dairy is able to produce the enough electricity to power approximately 450 homes.
Although intensive farming has its pros and cons, this is an additional feature that the Vanderhyde's have added that is a much greener response to simply spraying the waste on their fields, or letting it flow into a nearby creek. They have the capacity to store up to 8 million gallons of manure on the dairy.
It was a learning experience for the entire class. Cadets were also able to see the milking operation, which is mostly computerized. All of the cows wear computers that can tell a farmer everything from how many steps she has taken to the pounds of milk she has produced and the last time she was vaccinated. Thirty six at a time take a ride on a carousel that weighs them, milks them and assesses their overall health. It was amazing to learn how far the dairy farm has come!
The class was shocked to see all that went into an operation like the Vanderhyde Dairy. They were amazed by the cost, how much milk the cows produced, how much they ate and of course, by the calves. One had just been born two hours before we got there, and the Cadets couldn't believe that the calf was as big as it was! They wanted to know everything about it and Mr. Kyle Vanderhyde obliged them with numbers and statistics galore.
During the next day, one of the Cadets who had complained about the smell stated, "The smell stayed in my nostrils all day long!"
