2024 new york
Auburn, New York
July 17-18
July 17-18
TOurs
Visit the patterson farm |
SUNNYSIDE FARMS | WATER QUALITY PROTECTION |
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Expo host farm, Patterson Farms, is a seventh-generation dairy and crop farm established in 1830 that currently milks 1,800 cows and crops 2,600 acres, with 1,100 replacements raised at the farmstead. The Patterson family is inviting you to hop aboard their 30-seat “cow bus” and see the dairy through a guided tour. You’ll see a newly constructed barn and the site of their recently decommissioned complete mix digester that they operated for 15 years, now repurposed as part of their manure management system that includes screw press solids separation used to supply some of the herd’s bedding needs. needs. Tour guide, Reilley, a member of the farm family and a Cayuga County Dairy Ambassador, will share her family’s dairy experience. Be sure to wish her a Happy Manure Expo Birthday!
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This tour will cover how Sunnyside Farms manages nutrients to maximize productivity and protect water quality. Nestled between Owasco and Cayuga Lakes, Sunnyside Farms (a 5,000-cow, seventh generation dairy) is an example of how progressive farmers use science to inform their best practices. We’ll spend some time at the farmstead (where you might catch a view of the rotary parlor) and see how nutrients are managed near the barns and then head out into the field to see how that management carries over to their 7,500 acres of cropland. This tour is well-suited for farmers, conservation professionals and legislators. You’ll hear directly from the farm partners and their technical service providers about how modern dairy farms can maintain high production and effective environmental conservation, both critical in the New York Finger Lakes region.
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AURORA RIDGE DAIRY & LINCOLN DAIRY | ENERGY FROM MANUREAurora Ridge Dairy has operated a mixed plug-flow anaerobic digester since 2009. It fuels a 600-kW combined heat and power (CHP) system powering the dairy and exporting substantial electricity to the local utility grid. The farm uses screw press solids separation of the digestate to supply bedding for the dairy. In 2023, it commissioned an impermeable cover-and-flare system on its liquid long-term storage to prevent precipitation collection and capture and destroy any remaining methane from the digested manure. You will also travel to Lincoln Dairy, which commissioned a new anaerobic digestion-to-RNG system this year. It operates a sand-manure separator to recycle sand bedding that precedes the two complete mix digester tanks and biogas methane recovery system with onsite utility pipeline injection of the RNG.
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DUMOND GRAIN FARMS & SPRUCE HAVEN DAIRY FARM | SOIL HEALTH SYSTEMSThe tour will be held at DuMond Grain facility. Learn about the fantastic partnership between DuMond and Spruce Haven Dairy Farm. Hear from both farmers about their soil health practices that include cover cropping, reduced tillage, precision nutrient management and producing high-quality grain feed for local dairy animals. DuMond and Spruce Haven have worked together researching and testing applying manure into a standing corn crop utilizing the manure as a later season nutrient source for standing corn. Spruce Haven Farm milks around 2,000 cows bedded on sand and has been a pioneer of novel practices to help manage their manure and capture value from the nutrients it contains.
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