Cow manure lights, powers dairy farm

DORCHESTER, W.I - Running a dairy farm takes a lot of work, and most farmers probably can't say their cows are helping keep their property lit or powered.

But one farmer has found a way to make sure the power stays on, and nothing goes to waste.

Steve's Bach's family dairy farm sits right smack dab in the middle of Wisconsin. His herd includes 2,600 head of cattle. Also, on his farm is an engine, which is just one part of a complex machine that takes cattle waste and turns it into power.

It literally separates cow manure removing the solid from the methane gas.
That gas goes through engine which powers a generator and produces
electricity. That energy is then pumped into powerlines and into hundreds of rural Dorchester homes.

It's a process that's making use of a smelly product, and making Bach money.

"I think for the sale of the electricity and getting better usage of the manure coming out of the cows. I put it mostly in bedding, to bed my cattle and cut my manure odor for the local community," said Steve Bach, owner of Bach Farms.

Bach's herd produces about 30,000 gallons of waste daily. Before he started digesting it. That waste was stored in pits and spread on fields for fertilizer.
It's still put on fields now. But without methane gas. It's far less stinky.

The electricity is distributed to homes by Taylor Electric Cooperative, which usually gets 90 percent of its power from coal. But now, that dependency is greatly reduced.

"It's using that waste and it's helping reduce the amount of methane being released and renewable energy, of course, helps us reduce that dependency on Foreign oil," said Bach.

The solid part of the waste is used for cow bedding. Bach uses about half for his own herd and sells the other half to other area farmers.