Estimate of manure present in compost dairy barn systems for sizing of manure storage
¹Federal University of Lavras, Department of Engineering, BR37200-000 Lavras -Minas Gerais, Brazil
²Univeridad Nacional de Villa María, Institute of Basic and Applied Sciences, Agronomic Engineering, Córdoba, Argentina
³Federal University of Viçosa, Department of Agricultural Engineering, BR36570-000 Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
⁴University of Florence, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, Via San Bonaventura, 13, IT50145 Firenze, Italy
⁵Univeridad Nacional de Colombia, Agrarians Faculty, Department of Agricultural and Food Engineering, Medellin, Colombia
*Correspondence: flavio.damasceno@ufla.br
Abstract:
Milk production is increasingly modernized as a result of the growing demand for food around the world. Improvements in livestock facilities are observed, with a large increase in the use of feedlot systems such as the Compost Dairy Barn. Increasing milk production in confinement systems has also raised concerns such as the management of wastes (water, faeces and urine) from the system, which has become one of the most important issues in the intensive dairy farms. The aim of this work was to estimate the amount of manure present in compost dairy barn systems in order to size the manure storage. The study was conducted at four compost dairy barns in southern Minas Gerais, Brazil. These compost barns had different bedding materials and dimensions. In each farm, data on milk yield and quality (daily production, fat and protein content), animal weight and amount of feed ingested by the animals were collected. Total-day manure delivered by the cows in the feeding alley and milking parlour was piled up together and weighed. Based on the results, it was observed that, in the compost dairy barns, only part of the total manure produced per day was delivered in the milking parlour (1.6 and 2.0%) and in the feed alley (27.6 to 49.3%). These results are very important for designers for the proper manure management system design of the dairy farms.
Key words:
animal facility, compost-bedded pack barn, dairy farming, manure, organic wastes