A feed pad built for the future

By Cody McCary, Vita Plus forage specialist

Originally acquired by the Jones family in the 1980s as a hobby farm, Trillium Hill Dairy in Berlin, Wisconsin, has been expanding since 2008 and will milk 5,000 cows by the end of the year.

The farm is managed with a spirit of innovation and a solution-driven attitude. I sat down with Ben Jones to learn about a unique feed pad design (Patent #11.920.338) that the Joneses developed over several years. To put it simply, this feed pad design allows for the separation of silage leachate and clean water.

“I focused in on (how) we’re creating more of a problem for the industry by putting rainwater into the lagoons,” Ben explained.  “If you take a lagoon that’s usually around 4% to 5% dry matter and dilute that down to 3.5% dry matter, we’re creating more discharge.”

According to Ben, the increased volume of discharge can contribute to a cascade of other long-term challenges, first of which is a need for more acres to apply the discharge. That requires more trucks traveling the roads and potentially breaking down road infrastructure.  Additional wheel traffic on fields and its subsequent soil compaction, combined with the increased volume of liquid substrate, could also mean more runoff reaching streams.

In short, Ben said, “There was no benefit to adding water to the lagoons.”

To tackle these issues, the Joneses developed a novel feed pad design to keep leachate and clean rainwater separate.  The feed pad has been divided into segments with slight cement crests every 75 feet. Each segment is graded so the flow of water is directed to one of three collection points:  (A) the clean water swale, (B) clean water manholes, or (C) leachate channels (as labeled in the photo.)

Water that never touches ensiled feed – which includes water that lands on plastic pile covers or water that only touches cement free of ensiled feed – is directed to the clean water swale or a clean water manhole and discharged into the ditch.  Leachate (which is liquid that seeps from the ensiled feed or water that comes in physical contact with feed) is directed to the leachate channel and diverted to the lagoon.

Directing water flow

After a silage pile is built, plastic is extended beyond the edges of the pile to cover the silage leachate channel.  Thus, all the water that falls on top of the plastic (and does not touch silage) flows over the leachate channels and goes to the clean water swale between the piles (see photo).

“No collection, no diversion, nothing, right down the ditch,” Ben said.

The manhole covers located throughout the feed pad (labeled B in the photo) are closed when the pile is built.  Leachate flows over the closed manhole covers to the leachate channels.  Furthermore, when a pile is open, water within the same 75-foot segment as the open silage face is directed over the closed manholes to the leachate channel to be contained in the lagoon.

As feed is removed, and the open face moves back to the next 75-foot segment, the manholes are opened to allow drainage of the fresh rainwater.

“When you get over your crest, you flip that manhole, and now the clean water can’t reach the leachate channel, and that goes right to the ditch,” Ben said.  “Every 75 feet, an employee goes out with a crowbar and flips a manhole cover which takes roughly five minutes.”

Leachate’s path

As Ben described, leachate transverses across the feed pad to the leachate channels.  It then goes down a 1% grade trench to an end culvert that’s approximately 10 inches wide.  The culvert leads to a 10,000-gallon Wieser tank.  A pump with an automatic float then discharges the collected leachate directly into the lagoon.

Applicable for other dairies

According to Ben, this design is not just for new construction; it can also be installed as a retrofit. Both the new and retrofit designs can be viewed at Trillium Hill Dairy.

“Your initial savings is in manure hauling costs right off the bat,” Ben said.  “We have a calculator that allows you to put in the parameters of your feed pad, and we can show you, with your annual rainfall, to within probably a $1,000 to $2,000 of how much you will save in just manure hauling cost.  It allows farms to utilize the lagoons that they already have to be more efficient.”

This cost savings, coupled with the reduced traffic on roads and fields, makes this feed pad design a viable solution for Trillium Hill Dairy and other farms.  If a farm is interested in an expansion, limiting soil compaction, minimizing runoff risk, being a better neighbor, or reducing manure hauling costs, this feed pad design is something to consider.

Disclaimer: This feed pad design is patented under US patent #11.920.338.