TY - JOUR
T1 - Community digester operations and dairy farmer perspectives
AU - Swindal, Megan G.
AU - Gillespie, Gilbert W.
AU - Welsh, Rick J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We thank the dairy farmers who took the time to talk with us in person or to complete and return the questionnaire on which this report is based. Gretchen Gilbert and Dana Shapiro were key collaborators on many technical details of the survey. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets for funding this project through Clarkson University and a subcontract with Cornell University.
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Rising energy costs, increasing herd sizes, and other structural changes affecting the New York dairy industry may make farmers receptive to new energy production technologies. Anaerobic digestion represents a possible benefit to farmers by reducing odor while producing methane for electricity. However, current digester designs are for herd sizes of 300 or more cows, with significant economies of scale, so smaller operators may have little interest in the technology. Moreover, without a favorable policy environment and reliable grant programs, the initial investments required for digester installation might deter operators. One solution to these issues may be community digesters, which are centrally located facilities that accept manure from multiple farms. Data from a survey of New York dairy farmers were used to assess farmers' interest in community digesters. In general, interest was associated with power generation outcomes and reservations about organic farming practices; advocates might encourage their use among smaller conventional farm operators looking for new sources of profit and diversification.
AB - Rising energy costs, increasing herd sizes, and other structural changes affecting the New York dairy industry may make farmers receptive to new energy production technologies. Anaerobic digestion represents a possible benefit to farmers by reducing odor while producing methane for electricity. However, current digester designs are for herd sizes of 300 or more cows, with significant economies of scale, so smaller operators may have little interest in the technology. Moreover, without a favorable policy environment and reliable grant programs, the initial investments required for digester installation might deter operators. One solution to these issues may be community digesters, which are centrally located facilities that accept manure from multiple farms. Data from a survey of New York dairy farmers were used to assess farmers' interest in community digesters. In general, interest was associated with power generation outcomes and reservations about organic farming practices; advocates might encourage their use among smaller conventional farm operators looking for new sources of profit and diversification.
KW - Anaerobic digestion
KW - Economies of scope
KW - Manure management
KW - Sustainable agriculture
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78649990364&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78649990364&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10460-009-9238-1
DO - 10.1007/s10460-009-9238-1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78649990364
SN - 0889-048X
VL - 27
SP - 461
EP - 474
JO - Agriculture and Human Values
JF - Agriculture and Human Values
IS - 4
ER -