Austrian firm gets solid start in slurry extraction

Austrian separator maker Bauer says more than 50 of its units are used in the UK to extract solids from livestock slurry.

The British government recently cleared dairy farmers to use so-called recycled manure solids for bedding.

This “green bedding” was pioneered in the USA in the 1990s. A peat-like material with little odour, it must be dried to above 35% moisture and used the same day, layered 2cm to 5cm on mattresses, or 7.5cm on concrete, according to Bauer.

In the UK, sand is popular for bedding, but the average cost of £1.40 (€1.75) per day compares with 71p for green bedding. However, green bedding can’t be stored, and management must be good.

Bauer says it should only be used on the farm where it is produced, for disease control.

Bauer’s separator range includes models that can be relatively quickly moved from farm to farm. These handle 30 to 40 cubic metres of slurry hour to produce 32% material but another version produces 36%-38% DM material that can be used for green bedding.

For farmers who want to store green bedding for a day or two, the Bauer Bedding Recovery Unit takes dry matter to 40%-42%. A 3kW compact separator handles 5 cubic metres per hour for cattle slurry and 7-10 cubic metres per hour for pig. Liquid is squeezed through slotted screens and yields a fibrous material with a dry matter content between 25% and 28%.

This compact model costs £10,000 in the UK.