ALIX, Alta. -When John Chen immigrated to Canada two years ago, he wanted to get involved in agriculture.
One of the first things the Taiwanese veterinarian noticed was how differently hogs were raised in Canada compared to Taiwan.
“I wondered why pig farms are so dirty,” he said.
As a shareholder in a company that manufactures manure separation machinery he decided to sell the system here rather than farm. His next step was to find a Canadian farmer willing to try it.
Lorne Swaan of Abbotsford, B.C., agreed to try the machinery, but was skeptical, even though Chen told him about 10,000 of the units were working in Taiwan.
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“I looked at the machine as it was being installed and I said it will never work,” Swaan said.
The system draws manure up a conveyor belt and separates the solids and liquids with paddles over a series of screens.
The solids are dropped into a pile and composting begins immediately. The liquids are pumped into a lagoon.
Now after a few months of operation, Swaan is a believer. His 450 sow, farrow-to-finish operation produces up to 22,000 litres of liquid manure daily.
Tests at his farm show the separation machine removes 74 percent of the solids from the manure. In addition, 46 percent of the nitrogen is taken out.
A space 4.8 by 2.5 metres houses the system.
Replacing topsoil
For Swaan, the system will also help out with his 20,000 nursery tree business. When trees are removed from the ground, he loses topsoil. Now he can use the composted material drawn from the manure separator to put back into the soil.
As well, the cost of maintaining his lagoons has dropped. He pumps liquid manure into earthen lagoons. At one time the lagoons were 4.2 metres deep but as more solids were pumped in, the lagoons became shallower and are now about half that deep.
This means he has to have the lagoons dredged more often – a costly procedure. But now with fewer solids pumped in, the lagoons should require less dredging.
Swaan said smell has decreased and neighbors half a kilometre away have said they don’t notice when he is spreading the material on his trees.
As environmental issues, particularly public opposition to hog barns, grows across Western Canada, this system may help, said Swaan. But with low pork prices, farmers are reluctant to invest.
“The money is not there. If there was some help with interest-free loans it would make a difference,” he said.
The separation system has other applications as well.
Westcan Malting at Alix has a growing waste water disposal problem.
Chaff, dust, smaller kernels and water from the malting process at Westcan go into the waste system and must be separated, said Byron Mickelson, director of finance and administration.
The waste is drained off and goes through a separator. The liquids are then pumped out to lagoons. The company is not removing enough of the solids and its lagoons are filling up too quickly.
As the waste problem grows it is considering replacing the system with a machine from Chen’s company.
The solid byproducts resemble silage. They are collected every day and given to a local farmer for animal feed. Westcan believes with a new system it can draw out more byproduct and keep the lagoons cleaner.
