Farmers Review Africa March/April 2020 Farmers Review Africa March - April 2020 digital ( | Page 20

COVER STORY
GEA’s manure management portfolio includes solutions for collecting, transferring, applying and separating manure as well as bedding production.
remaining liquid can either be used on fields or
in the barn, following further processing, and the
solids reused as bedding or sold on.
Greater solid removal means less ends up in the
manure lagoon, lowering agitation, hauling and
dredging costs. By adding a decanter, nutrients
can be further isolated; for example, to produce
clarified liquid manure, which is largely free of
phosphate and can be spread safely on fields as
natural fertilizer.
Farmers around the world are looking for ways to
optimize their operational nutrient cycle. To this
end, more farmers, including GEA customers,
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are investing in biogas plants with downstream
treatment of fermentation residues; this enables
them to specifically utilize the electrical power,
heat and various fermentation residue fractions
generated in this way, both within and outside the
farm.
To realize the resulting economic advantages,
however, dairy farms in most countries will need
financial support and access to an infrastructure
that enables the production and utilization of
biogas. Economies of scale can be achieved by
combining various farm residues with, for example,
food waste from other farms. As a result, more
and more residues can be responsibly managed
and local and regional nutrient cycles closed.
Given its reputation for quality and durability, GEA
manure equipment is often selected by farmers
who integrate biodigesters in their operations –
whether it’s for moving liquid manure to and from
the digester, efficiently agitating pre-and post-
digestion or along the entire process.”- Jeramy
Sanford, Global Product Manager for Manure
Equipment, GEA
Developing robustness and resilience in dairy
cows
Cattle have been selected, bred and crossbred
for centuries to improve their performance and