STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann
UNL Extension Educator

     I would imagine that most of you have likely been close to a dairy, beef feedlot or swine confinement area and have taken a good whiff - with varying results. I imagine that most people have their own take on it, but most everyone in the industry will say-- “that’s the smell of money.” Of course there are retorts to that, but I think everyone, at least in my neck of the woods, has heard that more than once, regardless if there was any money made or not with either the dairy, feedlot or hog confinement system.  What is interesting to me is that in the future--- it surely might be smell of money, even above what the source of that odor is doing as fertilizer for our fertilizer for our fields, as well as becoming a source of energy with the advent of methane digesters. Millions of pounds of raw manure are put out each year in dairy farms, feedlots and beef and hog confinement systems all across our nation. What has in the past, is now, and will likely still be in the future a problem for livestock producers – manure may have a very good side. How is that possible?
     Plastic From Manure? Well it seems that Erik Coats, Assoc. Professor of civil engineering at the University of Idaho, and his research group have developed a way to generate a significant economic return from the beef and dairy industry’s waste stream by converting manure into a biodegradable plastic. Their process uses the unique capabilities of naturally occurring bacteria to ferment manure and then convert the fermentation products to a plastic. Now we are talking!
     The process, which results in the compound “polyhydroxyalkanoate”, or PHA, is simpler than it sounds. The various bacterial strains that they use are actually ordinary microbes that can be found in the soil. Right now, Coats and his research team gets their biomass in bulk from wastewater treatment plants. This research team ferments manure in tanks that creates a slurry of organic acids, which is described to be similar to vinegar, that is then fed to bacteria. The organisms feast on the fermented slurry, bonding carbon molecules inside their cells in the process.
     I am a living example that if we eat too much food on a regular basis, our bodies store the extra as fat. Not really any good for me or anything else for that matter, other than perhaps helping to keep a person warm in the winter. This new process utilizes this smorgasbord in similar fashion, but based on the amazing fact that if we feed bacteria too much, they store the extra inside their cells as carbon polymers, the basis of plastic. Seems pretty simple and it is. After the millions of bacteria bulk up on the fermented slurry, those bacteria are then killed with chlorine. The dried biomass results in “a semi-crystallized, natural, biological, biodegradable plastic. The process is neither labor-intensive nor overly technical. For example on a typical dairy, two people could run the operation and monitor dissolved-oxygen levels and temperature and a secondary income could result for that dairy farm.  The same would go I think for other livestock confinement systems.
     The results are good news for environmentalists, carbon sequestration alarmists and land-fills in that the end product is a biodegradable plastic with the caveat that carbon is also captured. Of course there are many uses for biodegradable plastics today. We’re talking about single-use plastic that we throw away each day, like planting pots for the nursery industry, plastic bottles, garbage bags and packing materials, for instance. There is also a good chance that much of this “bio-renewable” plastic won’t ever hit the landfill. Instead on garbage day, it can be put in a recycling station — feed it to the bacteria again and make more plastic. I do think however that the marketing of this plastic could be interesting. Perhaps the very thought of what that plastic used to be would be a little much for some people that I know.
     Right now the research is being done with a mobile laboratory set in a covered cargo trailer.  The research team can process 10 gallons of wet manure each day, producing two to five pounds of plastic. With PHA selling at a premium, significant economic return could be generated from dairy manure. The concept could easily be used in other industries and perhaps beyond the livestock industry. I understand that they will be moving the research out to a large, full-time dairy in 2014. The technology could be implemented full scale in a few years. It simply amazes me how American ingenuity and our University research can make even a waste like manure into gold if we give them a chance.  This is an example of why we in the ag industry need to back the work done by our land grant colleges, research divisions and extension programs.
     Rangeland Drought Insurance: With the reality of a second year of drought hitting our hay and pasturelands I think it is good that producers take a look at a potential management tool. The USDA Risk Management Agency is once again offering the Pasture Rangeland Forage (PRF) Insurance program for the 2014 crop year to include Nebraska in a Rainfall Index (RI) area. This last year, 2013, was the first year that Nebraska was part of Rainfall Index program. The Rainfall Index model is based on weather data (precipitation) collected and maintained by the NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. 
     The index reflects how much precipitation is received relative to the long-term average for a specified grid area during a given two-month time frame. Producers can insure their land for either grazing or for haying. For land that is insured for haying, forage production must come from perennial forages such as grass or alfalfa. Annual forages are not eligible under this program. Producers using this insurance will need to choose the time periods throughout the year for which they wish to get insurance. If you are interested I suggest obtaining the UNL Extension “NebGuide G2217” which can be found at your local UNL Extension office or on the web and watch an archived webinar http://beef.unl.edu/web/beef/prf-insurance  or try the on-line PRF decision tool which can be found at http://agforceusa.com/rma/ri/prf/dst.  I suggest – pray for rain!

The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home