In 2024,
South Mountain Creamery in Frederick County was awarded a $505,744 Animal Waste Technology Grant to enhance the farm’s manure management system for its 500 dairy cows.
South Mountain Creamery will utilize the grant funding to install two projects. The first project will equip the farm’s liquid manure lagoon with a protective cover and flare system. This will capture and safely burn off greenhouse gas emissions. The second project involves installing an advanced manure separation system to prevent solids and sand from entering the lagoon. These particles will be collected, treated, and packaged for sale off-farm. This will generate additional farm revenue while also addressing nutrient management concerns. In addition to the Animal Waste Technology Grant, South Mountain Creamery will receive a match of approximately $200,000 from the Conservation Innovation Fund and $350,000 from Nutrient Control Systems for additional treatment of the separated solids.
Key environmental and climate benefits include:
- Reduced nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to cropland by 35% and 16%, respectively.
- Estimated decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 8,500 tons per year.
- Option to transition to anaerobic digestion. The transition would allow the farm to capture and compress the biogas as a renewable natural gas to fuel a delivery fleet.
Updated 10/3/24
