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News
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Oregon dairies receive award for good stewardship
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3/23/2011
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Article Content Suggested lead
Three Oregon dairies are getting a pat on the back for their efforts to protect water quality and are being held as good examples for the rest of the industry:
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Inspectors with the Oregon Department of Agriculture have selected two coastal dairies and one in Washington County for a stewardship award given for those who go beyond the call of duty. Wym Matthews, manager of ODA's Confined Animal Feeding Operation Program, says these awards tell the rest of Oregon's dairy industry that environmental compliance is an achievable goal:
MATTHEWS: "People do it different ways and people are creative in the ways they do it. There is actually value in doing it other that just the environmental compliance. There may be a financial incentive to do it or a financial return for being good stewards." :13
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Saving money by running a more efficient dairy has helped the Danny Dave Dairy of Banks adopt an overall strong conservation ethic and maintain clean facilities:
MATTHEWS: "Several inspectors have put it, you could eat off of their floors. This family takes extreme pride in how they operate their facility and they pay extreme attention to detail. They've been able to incorporate all the environmental pieces of the permit as well as great farming practices and high producing dairy producing practices and wildlife enhancement practices on the farm." :20
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All three dairies have done a great job of handling manure and keeping animal waste from polluting nearby rivers and streams. In addition to being a model for other dairies, the award winners demonstrate to the general public that agriculture cares about protecting Oregon's natural resources. In Salem, I'm Bruce Pokarney.
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MATTHEWS says the two coastal dairies- one in Tillamook and one in Coquille- are using what is called a deep compost bedded pack system in their barn to handle cow manure. Sawdust and straw are placed on the floor of the barn, creating comfortable bedding for the cows:
"The cows actually really like it. It's just like a waterbed, a nice warm place for them to lay in the wintertime. It changes the manure system from a liquid and solid mix to mainly solid because the absorbent solids there- the sawdust and the straw- absorb the liquid." :15
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MATTHEWS says the three award winning dairies can serve as good role models for other dairies in the state:
"I think it gives hope to people that are faced with multiple regulations, more government, and more bureaucracy, that if they hear about this, or see it, or read about it a little bit, they'll say wow, somebody was innovative in how they achieved that compliance and actually got an award for it." :15
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Full story
http://oregon.gov/ODA/news/110323dairy_awards.shtml |
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