Using ‘cow power' to make your dairy farm self-sufficient: Part 2

Anaerobic digestion of feedstock produces biogas and digestate. The former can be used to produce on-farm power; the latter is a superb fertiliser, with many advantages over untreated slurry.

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Biogas digesters and associated equipment, as well as a number of free designs for DIY digesters, are available in South Africa (see biogassa.co.za). Although this will involve some cost, you can make your farm more self-sufficient by producing the following:

Fertiliser/compost

Consider mixing the slurry with vegetable and silage for a more balanced nutrient content. You should test this, however, before applying it to the land.

Ammonia and nitrogen can both be lost during this process. To reduce the loss of ammonia, lower the pH by adding an acidifying agent to raw materials before digestion. To decrease the loss of nitrogen, add an agent such as pine bark or Aloe ferox leaf at 25g/â„“.

Electricity