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Glen Acres Farm has
approximately 100 goats housed
on a sawdust bedding pack
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Glen Acres Farm is an organic goat dairy that has approximately 100 goats.
This farm imports all of its feed and has no land base for manure application.
Organic certification also requires that manure be composted.
In June of 1999, we constructed
a small composting system to handle the manure from these 100 goats. This
compost facility consists of four 7 ft wide by 6 ft high by 15 ft deep
concrete bays. The floor contains a grid of aeration pipes. These pipes
are connected to a blower controlled by a timer. There are 16 inch concrete
curbs along the walls to allow the loader tractor to enter the bay without
damaging the aeration pipes. A drainage system in the floor catches any
leachate produced during the composting process.
The raw manure is placed
in the first bay with the farm loader. It remains in that bay for 10-14
days, then is moved into the second bay. The composting manure is successively
moved through all four bays. After that, it is moved to another building
for curing and storage.
The composting facility under
construction in June 1999. |
The inside of the composting
bay showing the aeration
piping and the concrete curbs
for driving the loader.
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The completed composting
facility for 300 tonnes per year of
goat manure and bedding.
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