Massachusetts dairy turns manure and food waste into $155,000 annual savings

For generations, cow manure was simply an unavoidable byproduct of running a dairy farm. At Jordan Dairy Farms in Rutland, Massachusetts, however, it became something much more valuable: a source of electricity, heat, fertiliser and even animal bedding. In 2011, the family-run dairy installed what it describes as the first agricultural anaerobic digester in Massachusetts. The system uses microorganisms to break down manure and other organic waste in an oxygen-free environment, producing biogas that can be used to generate electricity.Randy Jordan, who runs the farm with his brother Brian, was looking for a way to deal with rising electricity costs. Jordan Dairy Farms had hundreds of cows producing manure every day, and Jordan began exploring whether that waste could be converted into energy.