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SW WI | I'll weigh in with my 2 cents. NRCS put in a few outside earthen pits for dairy manure 10+ yrs ago. Was supposed to be able to handle bedded pack and scrapings with no roof on. Total nightmare. Too wet to scoop with front end loader, to much bedding to haul with liquid equipment. Now in your situation, if your scrape alley is covered and you would mix in your bedded pack more frequently, I actually could see this working. My experience is with a steer barn that has an uncovered feeding lane. Rainy weather makes the scrape alley terrible to handle the manure. I have often thought about covering it somehow. When its dry outside and I scrape every other day, the manure is not bad to handle. So if you eliminate the extra moisture I woundn't be scared of that. One summer when I didn't have fields to spread on, I did stack bedded pack and scrape alley manure together and for me it wasn't bad to handle. One other thing that may limit you if rules in your area about spreading every day during winter. If you can't, then of obviously you will need more storage. I am starting to plan a new steer barn so I will be having some of the same issues. I think the most simply for handling manure is to have covered storage to eliminate the extra moisture, but costs will play into this and I will have to strike a balance between cost,simplicity, and being in complience with NRCS. Good luck in your decision. | |
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Dairy Heifer barn manure storage
