2011 - Volume #BFS, Issue #11, Page #60
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Brown Bear's Line Of Tractor And Skidsteer Mounted Composters
Brown Bear composters mount to any tractor with Cat II or III 3-pt. hitches with 540 rpm pto speed and 85-130 pto hp or 1000 rpm pto speed and 100-160 pto hp. Users say they’re easy to operate and maintain.
  For use in multiple farm applications:
  Feedlots - Manure and pen scrapings are hauled to a windrow site where the Brown Bear aerator is used to windrow and aerate the manure at the same time. The manure, or manure and bedding mix, starts the composting process at about 70% moisture and continues to about 10% moisture. Windrows are turned twice a week for the first couple weeks, then once a week for the next couple of weeks until the compost process has broken down the manure to a rich odor and pathogen free soil like texture. The aerator can also be used in the pens to dry out the manure and to move snow away from the bunk lines.
  Dairies - Manure from dry lot scraping or from manure separators can be windrowed and aerated to produce finished compost. While the dry lot scrapings are composted much like the feedlot manure, manure from a manure separator or press can be composted to produce sterile bedding. Once manure is flushed from the free stall and milking areas to a manure separator, the solids from the separator are stockpiled on a hard surface pad for a few days to allow for further gravity separation of the free water. The liquids from the separator and manure gravity separation may be lagooned for land application. The solids are carried from the gravity separation pad at about 15% solids to a compost pad which is generally compacted clay, but in some cases may be hard surfaced. Once there the manure is placed in windrows and within a day or so the temperatures of the windrows will reach 140-180 degrees F. The windrows are aerated with the Brown Bear attachment twice per week for a period of 30 days until tests indicate that the manure is sterile and 80-90% solids when it is then used as recycled bedding under the cows. Tests indicate that the compost has less indicator organisms than wood chips or sawdust and SCC generally goes down when substituting compost in place of wood waste as bedding.
  Poultry - Manure from both layer and broiler operations as well as the mortalities from both types of operations is composted using Brown Bear aerators.
  Layer manure can be composted in the pit of high rise layer houses using the smaller skid steer composting attachments. Composting of layer manure reduces or eliminates flies, odors and rodents while it reduces volume and moisture and granulates the manure to something easily transported and land applied.
  Litter from broiler houses can be recycled by composting within the house to pulverize, decake, sterilize and flash off the ammonia all in one operation, within a few days’ time. Recycling the litter reduces the need to purchase new litter as wood shavings or sawdust, reduces production costs and also eliminates some of the litter application to land in areas of difficult land application. Flocks do better on recycled composted litter showing less mortalities, less blinding, increased feed conversion and increased bird weight at harvest.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Brown Bear Corp., P.O. Box 29, Corning, Iowa 50841 (ph 641-322-4220; fax 641-322-3527; email: brnbear@mddc.com; website: www.brownbearcorp.com).


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2011 - Volume #BFS, Issue #11