Will this work on my dairy? Ask questions of anyone who has had ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with the type of technology. Weigh answers based on your animals’ housing, manure collection methods, and climate (soil, rain, heat, cold). Just because it did or didn’t work in Wisconsin or Florida doesn’t mean it’ll work in California. Seek unbiased research results.
A few obvious questions serve as warm-ups: how much does it cost to install and how long will chaos reign at my facility during installation? Will the company provide a site manager, or is that someone from the dairy? Are there any research data from an unbiased source? Then, ask detailed questions about operation and maintenance. What is the probability of no operation (it broke)? What are the operation and maintenance costs during the first 10 years of operation? What is the depreciation rate?
Will this help solve any of my manure challenges? Here’s where you must rely on your consultant network. What improvements in your system are you trying to make? Does this technology address them? Does it create new/different challenges? Your environmental or nutrient management specialist should review the proposed technology and identify any red flags related to nutrient management (nitrogen and salt application to land). Any change in location, volume or character of manure requires a detailed analysis by the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District. Likely, both the nutrient and waste management plans will need to be revised. That requires a Technical Service Provider (TSP) and an environmental consultant. Also, an engineer must review the Waste Management Plan to ensure compliance is real and measurable. Do you need more capacity for storm water? Do you need more crop land? What happens if you need to fallow land due to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act? Be sure your lawyer reviews all contracts. Discuss variables of concern.
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