Improving an Amish Manure Management System in Southeastern Pennsylvania: A Case Study

摘要

An Amish landowner in southeastern Pennsylvania asked NRCS to help him improve his existing manure management system. He had an existing concrete-block storage tank that held about 1.5 months of manure from his dairy herd, consisting of 45 Holstein cows. The landowner was interested in decommissioning the existing storage to build a larger one. In addition, he wanted to modify the barn for a Virginia-style heifer facility, rework the barnyard, and tie the entire system together. Manure will gravity flow from the gutters in the tie-stall barn, through a cross gutter and into the slatted storage of the heifer facility. A gated pipe will allow manure to flow out of the heifer barn and into the 56' diameter by 10' deep concrete liquid manure storage tank. Barnyard runoff and lot scrapings will be pushed over the side of the tank.Various challenges to the site included working in and around an existing barn, decommissioning the existing block-wall manure storage, capturing spring flow, non-encroachment on surface water, equipment access over a buried gas pipeline, and working with the special needs of the Plain Sect landowner. Ensuring that the manure management design was compatible with the planned construction was also critical.