What is the best solution for cattle manure?

The legislation on nitrogen emissions is constantly changing. Moreover, the rules are becoming stricter and, as a farmer, you have to respond to this constantly. But how do you do that? What is currently the best solution for cattle manure? Dairy farmer Gerjan Roetert explains how he approaches it on his farm.

Drastically reducing nitrogen emissions

Every sector contributes to nitrogen emissions. In the Netherlands, dairy farming is responsible for 25% of all emissions at the moment. As Peter ten Hoeve, product manager at JOZ, says, ‘This percentage gives a distorted picture because the aviation industry, for example, is not included as a sector. Another thing that’s not taken into account is that livestock farming is the only sector that also absorbs emissions. But the fact remains that the government attributes most emissions to the agricultural sector and farmers need to do something about it.’

‘At JOZ, we have found a solution that can drastically reduce this percentage,’ Peter continues. ‘A solution from which dairy farmer Gerjan Roetert is about to reap the benefits.’

Extra manure production

Together with his wife, Gerjan runs a dairy farm in Wesepe that covers around 100 hectares of land. The Roetert family has 220 cows that together produce 2 million litres of milk per year. ‘We do not make use of derogation because we couldn’t then grow enough maize,’ Gerjan explains. ‘And then we would be short of feed.’

‘Without derogation, you aren’t allowed to spread as much animal manure on the land. Because of this restriction, I actually have 1 cow too many per hectare and I paid a lot to offset the extra manure production. Finding a solution for cattle manure was therefore vital for us. The Gazoo nitrogen cracker from JOZ offers us that solution.’

The solution for cattle manure

Product specialist Peter explains how the nitrogen cracker works. ‘The Gazoo works in conjunction with the separator. After the separator has divided the manure into thick and thin fractions, the nitrogen cracker removes the volatile nitrogen – or ammonia – from the thin fraction. As a result, the farmer emits up to 80% less nitrogen.’

‘The Gazoo extracts the nitrogen through an ingenious evaporation process and captures it in water so that it can no longer escape. In this second part of the process, the Gazoo turns the volatile nitrogen into slurry. We call this BioGrow and it’s liquid artificial fertiliser. This fertiliser is stored in special silos and used to fertilise your land.’

‘The residual water – the thin fraction without ammonia – can be spread over the land or returned to the sheds. If you spray the residual water on your slatted floors, you also reduce the amount of ammonia in the well, which reduces the nitrogen emissions from the shed itself by as much as 62%.’

The big advantages

The Gazoo nitrogen cracker therefore offers many advantages to farmers who want to become more sustainable. ‘It kills 2 birds with 1 stone,’ Gerjan explains. ‘You emit far less nitrogen when you spread the manure, so you spend nothing or far less on disposing of the excess manure. You also only keep the good part of the manure – rich in minerals, proteins and fatty acids – which you can use to enrich your soil.’

‘Moreover, you no longer have to pay for artificial fertiliser because the nitrogen cracker makes it for you. And by the way, you don’t have to put up with any stench. The machine is sealed, so you can’t smell a thing. The best solution for cattle manure? For me, the nitrogen cracker is the real answer. It doesn’t cost me money to get rid of manure or to buy artificial fertiliser. What more could you want?’

Natural gas

‘There is yet another advantage to farmers producing their own fertiliser,’ Peter adds. ‘It saves an enormous amount of natural gas. If the fertiliser Gerjan has here in his silos were produced elsewhere, it would require 25,000 m3 of natural gas per year. And since the production of fertiliser accounts for 15% of total emissions, you can imagine how different the picture would be if all farmers produced their own fertiliser.’

‘’With the help of the nitrogen cracker, that 15% could be reduced to virtually 0% and dairy farming’s share of the total emissions (the 25% mentioned earlier) could be reduced by 80%.’

Recouped in 4 years

‘The nitrogen cracker saves both me and society money in every way,’ says Gerjan. ‘I’ll earn back the investment I made in the nitrogen cracker in just 4 years. If it took much longer, 10 or 12 years for example, I wouldn’t have bought it. The risk would have been too great. But in this case, the choice was easy.’

‘It’s also nice that JOZ has kept the machine very simple to use,’ Gerjan continues. ‘I don’t really need to do anything special with it in my daily routine. If something needs to be done, a special app on my phone tells me. I might, for example, get a message saying that the acid or lye container is empty. You get a message like that about once a month and you can easily deal with 80% of these messages yourself. It’s very user-friendly.’

Interested?

Are you looking for a solution for cattle manure? Would you like to drastically reduce nitrogen emissions on your farm, for example, and save money when it comes to manure disposal and the purchase of fertilizer? Perhaps the Gazoo nitrogen cracker could be the answer for you too. Contact JOZ for more information or advice without obligation.