First American Scientific Corp. (fka FASC)

[troutkinglives]

Innovative cow bedding used at Hanehan Family Diary
Published: Monday, October 14, 2013

SARATOGA >> Hanehan Family Dairy is one of 90 New York state farms that use recycled paper mill sludge to keep cows clean, healthy and comfortable.
Syracuse Fiber Recycling gets the material from SCA Tissue in South Glens Falls, Finch Paper Co. in Glens Falls and Rock-Tenn Co. in Solvay, near Syracuse.
Short-fiber papermaking residue is mixed with cement dust, a drying agent, to make animal bedding that is absorbent and has a high pH content, which inhibits bacteria so cows producer higher-quality milk.
“Farmers use a lot of byproducts,” said Philip Hanehan, the farm’s herdsman. “All this stuff helps reduce the carbon footprint of the dairy industry and food production in general.”
Sludge that isn’t recycled would have to be landfilled.

However, one of the product’s main advantages, in addition to being environmentally friendly, is its health benefits because of concerns about mastitis and somatic cell counts, which are used to measure milk quality.

“It allows us to maintain clean beds,” Hanehan said. “With clean beds come lower somatic cell counts, better scores and healthier cows.”

The farm recently won a “Super Milk 20 Year Award” for its two straight decades of producing high-quality milk.
The late Roger R. Elston founded Syracuse Fiber Recycling 15 years ago. Starting in the 1980s, he ran a dairy farm in northwest Ohio for 10 years. Before that, he worked in the chemical industry. Drawing on that background and his contacts in the paper industry, he started thinking how waste sludge could help the mills and agriculture.

Sludge has 40 to 50 percent moisture content at the end of the papermaking process. When cement dust — high in calcium carbonate — is mixed in, the moisture goes down considerably.

The company, now owned by Elston’s sons, Joe and Roger W. Elston, occupies 40,000 square feet of former manufacturing space near the New York State Fairgrounds. In 2012, the business sold 70,000 tons of material to 90 farms across New York.

“We’re looking at 30 to 35 percent growth over the next five to 10 years,” Joe Elston said.

Recently, Syracuse Industrial Development Agency voted to exempt the business from sales tax on construction materials for a proposed renovation of its facility and a 4,000-square-foot addition, costing a combined $759,000. The IDA also applied for a $375,000 state grant to fund the project; the company will finance the rest.

Joe Elston said state Department of Environmental Conservation approval was required to start marketing the product because some farmers put used bedding on fields as fertilizer. The high pH content in cement dust is good for the soil, he said.

The Hanehans mix their recycled fiber with sawdust, another common form of cow bedding, which they get from Vermont. However, recycled paper sludge is more readily available and less expensive than sawdust, Hanehan said.

“We get a tractor-trailer load every 10 days,” Hanehan said.

They use this bedding mixture for about 70 percent of their 700-cow dairy herd. In one barn, they still use deep-bedded sand, another common type of animal bedding.

“The problem with sand is that it settles to the bottom of your manure storage area and has to be dredged out,” Hanehan said.

Bedding is sold in bulk form by the yard, usually in quantities of 80 yards for $580. Most Central New York farmers pick up bedding on their own.

The company contracts with a trucking company to deliver bedding to farms that are farther away, such as Hanehan’s and Chambers Valley Farm in Salem, Washington County.

After dropping off bedding at local farms, trucks go to SCA Tissue and Finch Paper, where they pick up sludge that’s brought back to Syracuse for recycling. Finch Paper owns and operates a sludge landfill in Northumberland and recently purchased an adjacent, undeveloped landfill from Saratoga County that will be used for municipal solid waste. Long-term plans call for consolidating the two facilities.

Finch also sends some sludge to other businesses that use it for compost.

“We’re especially glad that it can be used for agricultural purposes in this area,” spokesman John Brodt said.

http://saratogian.com/articles/2013/10/14/news/doc525c906401feb484926163.txt?viewmode=3