常青农场公司. is a family-owned dairy located in Spruce Creek, Pa. It was established in 1965 by Wayne Harpster, who started the farm with 18 cows. By 1991, Wayne had grown his herd to 1,600 cows and built a dairy to accommodate his expanding farm.
Today, Evergreen Farms is operated by Wayne’s three sons: Abe, Aaron and Andrew. 他们挤牛奶,200头奶牛, raise their own heifers and cultivate approximately 7,000 acres of land at their Central Pennsylvania farm to make feed for their cows. They also offer educational and employment opportunities for young people to develop their skills to become the next generation of dairy professionals.
挑战
Evergreen Farms built their barns on a 2.5-3% slope to accommodate a flush system for cleaning manure from the alleys. They initially used mattresses covered in sawdust as bedding for their cows, but eventually decided to switch to composted solids.
“随着时间的推移, sawdust became very expensive and hard to find, and our mattresses were kind of wearing out, so we decided to try deep-bedded stalls,亚伯·哈普斯特说.
In 2006, Evergreen Farms incorporated a screw press into their manure management routine to
separate the fibrous solids from the dirty flush liquid to create bedding for their cows.
“We became successful at it and decided to convert all our barns over to composted solids,哈普斯特说.
To help thicken the solids prior to the screw presses and increase the quality of the liquid portion for use as recycled flush water, Evergreen Farms began looking at Rotary Drums to help meet their manure management goals.
解决方案
They considered two companies, but ultimately chose 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 based on their experience and the quality of their equipment.
“We decided on 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 for a couple reasons. They’re a company that’s well known in our region for the equipment that they make for the mining industry, and they’re involved in agriculture with some products,哈普斯特解释道. “他们的菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全很好. It was a simple decision to go with 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 for the quality equipment that they produce.”
In 2014, 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 installed two 60” Rotary Drums to fit into Evergreen Farms’ manure management system. Water from their storage tanks is flushed through the barns to clean the manure from the alleys. Because of the slope of the barns, the flush water and manure gather into a reception pit at the end of the alleys. This liquid is then fed to the 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 Rotary Drums.
The Rotary Drums separate the liquid into two portions: a clean water portion that exits into Evergreen Farms’ lagoon system for reuse as flush water, and a thickened portion that is pumped to their screw presses to make bedding for the freestalls.
“The way the drums work is manure is pumped into one end, and there’s a rotating screen on the inside,罗布·普兰克说。, Global Product Manager - Agricultural 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 at 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全. “Manure falls on the inside of that screen, and the liquid and fine particles come through the screen. The thickened fibers, the larger fibers, are captured on the inside. They tumble through and dewater somewhat, and then the thickened portion comes out the discharge end.”
结果
The Rotary Drums have proven to be an integral part of Evergreen Farms’ manure management system. 
“The 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 Rotary Drums have been really good for us, for cleaning the solids out of the water,哈普斯特说. “It improved upon our flush water quality that we recycle through the barns, so the barns stay nice and clean now.”
Besides separating the solids from the liquid to produce high-quality flush water, the 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 Rotary Drums also play a role in creating high-quality bedding for Evergreen Farms’ cows.
“They help us by dewatering the flush water and thickening up the product that we pump to our screw presses, making higher-quality composted solids,哈普斯特解释道.
Since installing the Rotary Drums, Evergreen Farms has been pleased with their performance.
“We’ve had the 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 drums for five years now, and they’ve been working basically maintenance-free; we just do routine maintenance for them,他注意到. “They’ve been a perfect piece of equipment for our operation.”
多年来, Evergreen Farms has also benefited from a great working relationship with the 菠菜网最稳定正规平台_最全菠菜网大全 team.
“They have a great team of people. They stop in and check on me, make sure the equipment is still doing what it’s supposed to be doing,哈普斯特说. “They’re really a good team to deal with in our industry.”
