—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 5,1977
20
Underground manure pumping gaining favor
A manure pumping unit such as this one is taking on manure handling chores
at more and more farms across the country. The one above was recently in
stalled at the Maplehofe dairy farm near Quarryville.
By CARLTON D,
STODDARD
Pumping solid manure
underground to a remote
storage reservoir makes
good sanitation sense,
dairyman-veterinarian Dr.
John A. Mehling believes.
One such system was
recently installed at the
Maplehofe dairy farm, south
of Quarryville in Lancaster
County.
Flushing manure with
thousands of gallons of water
into a lagoon, daily
spreading on top of the
ground, or stacking manure
in a pile, will be obsolete and
unacceptable methods of
manure disposal in the
future, he predicts.
Mehling recognized that
the new underground
pumping system offers
possibilities of improved
manure management. He
journeyed to Minnesota for a
firsthand look at new solid
piston manure pump in
stallations where flies and
odors have virtually
vanished.
Vivid in Mehling’s mind
were reports warning of
acttle and hog deaths from
asphyxiation by fumes from
liquid manure pits. He
shared the concern of
agricultural engineers Dr.
Richard Guest at Cornell
University and Dr. A Roger
Grout at Pennsylvania State
University that agitation of
liquid manure pits can stir
up lethal gas endangering
herd owners and animals
alike.
Reports of methane gas
explosions and suffocation
from hydrogen sulfide
generated in liquid manure
pits under slat floors were
well known to Mehlmg. He
preferred a solid manure
system for his own
registered Holstein dairy
herd near Van Etten, New
York.
Liquid manure systems
with daily or hourly flushing
require large amounts of
water, and multiply tonnage
to be hauled and spread,
Mehling noted. Water is a
resource which must be
preserved and husbanded
like the valuable nutrients in
manure itself, he insists.
Mehling is unusually
qualified to evaluate new
ideas in manure
management. He was
student herdsman of the
Ohio State University dairy
herd, and obtained Ohio
State degrees in both dairy
sceince and veterinary
medicine.
Mehling’s new solid piston
pump manure system is a
model of efficiency. Con
ventional manure gutter
conveyors empty into a
horizontal hydraulic pump
with 10%” inch diameter
piston. Reciprocating with a
long slow stroke like a
Corliss steam engine, the big
plunger compresses heavily
bedded manure and impels it
underground through a 12-
CLICK'S
ROOFING & SPOUTING
Handler & Installer Of
BAKED ENAMEL TIN ROOFS
Colors: Turquoise, Red, Olive Green, Rust,
Brown, White and Plain.
Sires: 5 ft up to 36 ft. All in one. Also cut to exact
length.
SAMUEL B. CLICK
R.DI, Rimer, Pa PH 17171442 4921
Call in Morning Before 6 30
and Evenings after 6 00 P M
No Sunday Calls
inch diameter high strength
polyvinyl pipe to a remote 40
by 90 foot manure storage
reservoir located a safe
distance from the dairy
barn.
Mehling elected the large
solid piston pump in
preference to hollow piston
pumps which are intended to
handle only semi-solid or
slurry manure without
bedding.
About six bales of straw a
day are used for bedding,
which helps to form a
heavily matted crust on the
manure surface in the
storage.
Manure from the un
derground pipe ejects up
ward into the storage from
the bottom, unlike manure
stackers which add a layer
daily on top of a pile, ex
posing the fresh manure to
flies, and releasing odors.
Thick dry crust on the
stored manure helps prevent
pupation of fly larvae, seals
in odors, and insulates
against extremes of tem
perature. Hot summer sun
can drive off fertile
nutrients. Heat can
overaccelerate bacterial
action in manure and
decimate nutrients the way
it deteriorates silage or wet
grain. Winter cold can freeze
manure rock solid and delay
hauling in spring past
planting time.
Mehlmg planned the
manure reservoir with a
concrete floor which slopes
from ground level to eight
feet depth at the far end.
AMERICAN BREEDERS
SERVICE
★ ★ SALE TOPPERS ★ ★
THE AMERICAWLABS - SIRED HOLSTEIN SALE
OCTOBER 8,1977
49 HEAD REPRESENTING 32 DIFFERENT SIRES
TOPPED ALL A.L SALES WITH A >5,4114 AVERAGE
BURLEY BOOTMAKER VALID EX-91 $42,000
SIRE 29H1881 BOOTMAKER
SKAGVALE FRASEA HATTIE $13,500
51RE29H1958 FRASEA
SWEET-HAVEN CITATION TIFFANY VG-89. $12,700
SIRE 29H1883R MAPLE
MISS AMERICANA PRINCESS $12,500
SIRE 29H1869 MONITER
PAULO-BRO R MAPLE MAID-TWIN EX-94 $12,200
SIRE 29H1883R MAPLE
BALLS POLYBOOTS DEMAND $lO,OOO
SIRE 29H2510 DEMAND
AMERICAN BREEDERS SERVICE CONGRATULATES
CLARK E. BAKER of HARRINGTON, DELAWARE
on his recent dispersal. 80 percent of the herd was ABS sired.
116 head averaged $870.77.93 ABS sired animals
averaged *909.38.
CARRIE LONE-OAK BOOTMAKER $2,300
SIRE 29H1881 BOOTMAKER
CLARIRL LANCER SAUCY. $2,250
SIRE 29H1866 LANCER
QUEEN PEARLIONE OAK SIZZLER $2,200
SIRE 29H1924 SIZZLER
ACB ROCKET JENNIE. $2,000
SIRE 29H1830 CENTURION
POINSETTA LONE-OAK R MAPLE $1,850
SIRE 29H1883R MAPLE
PEONY LONE OAK DOUBLE TRIUNE * $l,BOO
SIRE 29H1926 DOUBLE TRIUNE
MISS TRACY LONE OAK SIZZLER $l,BOO
SIRE 29H1924 SIZZLER
MISS ECB DOUBLE TRIUNE JOYCE 51,800
SIRE 29H1926 DOUBLE TRIUNE
Bangor, PA EncHeinsohn 215-588-4704
Ephrata, PA Darvin Yoder 717-733-0966
Gap, PA Lynn Gardner 717-656-6509 -*■
nnn Holtwood.PA Paul Herr 717-284-4592 fmfl
U||i| Landisville, PA James Charles 717-898-8694 El Kclm
HUH Manheim, PA Lamar Witmer 717-898-8694 flUli
Mina Port Murray, NJ Robert Kayhart 201-689-2605 wgggggg
■JuSSSB Reading, PA Robert Greider 215-378-1212 HSBSjS
wmnam Richland. PA Paul Martin 717-866-4228 VHtfjHHP
® Shippensburg, PA Jerry Baboms 717-532-3711 ®
Thomasville, PA Ira Boyer 717-225-3758
Vincentown, NJ Gerald Hall 609-859-3783
Whitehouse Station, NJ Robert Colburn 201-534-4483
, West Grove, PA Maurice Stump 215-869-9187 a
serving as a ramp for easy
entrance A regular tractor
hydraulic scoop loader and
conventional manure
spreader can be driven down
the ramp floor mto the
storage.
Immediately after it is
hauled to the field, manure is
plowed under to seal
nutrients in the soil and
prevent run off.
One man on the tractor
The top 10 animals averaged $13,190
THE TOP 10 AVERAGED $1,927.50
plow and one man on the
spreader work as a team.
Mehlmg agrees whole
heartedly with Cornell
University extension
agronomist Dr. Stu Klausner
that plowing manure under
immediately is a must.
Diversion terraces were
constructed to prevent
barnyard run off water
from entering the manure
(Continued on Page 21)