Farmers harness manure power

MORONI, Sanpete County — Owners of a dairy and turkey farm turning manure into electricity are among the first farmers in Utah qualified to receive federal payments for environmentally sensitive practices.

In a ceremony last week at their 1,000-acre farm, Scott and Edwin Sunderland signed a contract under the new Conservation Security Program of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (formerly the Soil Conservation Service).

The Sunderland operation is one of 91 Utah farms in Sanpete, Cache and San Juan counties selected to participate. Sylvia Gillen, NRCS state conservationist, said the farms would share $1.2 million that the agency has allocated for Utah. She said the money would reward the farmers for work on their lands that promotes "clean air, pure water, abundant fish and wildlife and beautiful rural vistas."

Kyle Stephens, state deputy commissioner of agriculture, said the new farm program represents the "dawning of a new day for agricultural resource protection."

By protecting their land and water and finding energy-efficient ways to farm, producers like the Sunderlands are "helping make agriculture sustainable for future generations," he said.

The Sunderlands, a four-generation farm family, were particularly recognized for manure management and for using computers to monitor nearly everything happening on their farm, from soil test results to how much irrigation water they are applying in different locations.

For some time, the Sunderlands have gathered manure from their 700 dairy cows into large piles, composted it to kill the bacteria, mixed it with straw and reused it as bedding in cow stalls.

Most people would assume putting the waste back under the cows would be harmful. But it has "really improved herd health," Edwin Sunderland said. He said the farm had developed the bedding to a point where it is almost ready to market it as a separate product.

Recently, in cooperation with Utah State University, the farm has installed tanks several hundred feet high that "digest" manure, releasing anaerobic gasses. The farm is in the process of installing a special electric generator. Using the gasses to power the generator, they plan to generate an ongoing stream of 100-150 kilowatts of power for use on their farm.

Gillen said the Sunderlands are widely known for farm computerization. "They have records that not only track dairy and poultry production, but they track other critical inputs such as fertilizer and the application of irrigation water, and they keep track of soil testing done on the farm."