I’ve always found ways to turn “waste materials” into useful resources on the farm fascinating. On my farm, I tried to reuse and recycle resources as much as possible to close the off-farm input loop. I think farms can become more resilient as they rely on fewer off farm inputs. So, when I heard of the mid-scale anaerobic digester being installed at Dickenson College Organic Farm as a demonstration of how small dairy farms can utilize manure and other waste streams to produce on farm energy, I was eager for the opportunity to visit the farm and help spread the word to other farms.

In November 2023, NCAT Agriculture Specialist Eric Fuchs-Stengel and I had that opportunity. We traveled to Dickenson College Organic Farm in Carlisle, PA to visit Matt Steiman, Farm Energy and Livestock Manager at the farm. The farm is a beautiful certified organic working farm situated on 90 acres in the south-central part of the state where they grow vegetables and raise beef, lamb, and layers. Eric and I were there to shoot a video tour of the newly installed, mid-scale anaerobic biodigester that transforms manure from a neighboring dairy, as well as food waste from the college dining hall and local restaurants, into natural gas that can be used to generate heat and electricity.

This biodigester project comes after years of biofuel research and experimentation by Steiman at the college. The idea of using waste products from the farm and local area to produce fuel and power greatly intrigued Steiman, so he started making biodiesel that converted waste cooking oil into fuel to run equipment on the farm. Since the glycerin byproduct from biodiesel production can be useful in anaerobic digestion of organic matter that produces natural gas, he started experimenting in 2010 with small anaerobic digester systems to utilize glycerin, leading to a series of larger systems and culminating with the latest farm-scale biodigester.

The process of anaerobic digestion for production of natural gas is straightforward. A sealed tank creates an anaerobic, or oxygen-free, environment where a slurry of organic matter can be “eaten” or digested by microbes that thrive at certain temperatures in low-oxygen conditions. The methane gas given off from the microbes in this process rises to the top of the tank to an outlet tube where it can be collected and used as a fuel source for heat or electric production. The leftover digestate, which contains all the nutrients from the original waste material, is collected and spread on farm fields.

The size and cost of this new biodigester project required very specific design considerations to ensure that it was sized properly to match the expected waste flow and operate as intended. The digester tank is a 10-foot tall, 115,000-gallon, 50-foot-diameter cement tank buried 8 feet in the ground and sealed with a heavy-duty rubber covering. In the tank are heater pipes and an agitator to mix the slurry. A free-style barn was built next to the tank to house the dairy cows and heifers. At one end of the barn are three in-ground cement tanks that make up the waste-collection system for the digester. One tank is for daily manure collection, the second is for food waste collection (up to 3 tons per day), and the third is for collecting the digestate material remaining after the digestion process. The digestate goes through a liquid removal process and can then be used for bedding in the barn. The liquid portion of the digestate is staged to be used as a nutrient source for the farm’s crop fields and compost piles.

This digester is sized to produce enough gas to match a 50-kilowatt (kW) combined heat and power (CHP) engine. An engine from the European company TEDOM adapted to biogas was chosen for the job. The power produced will first be used to supply the power needs of the farm and the biodigester itself with excess electric production being sold back to the local utility company. This unique 150-cow-scale digester is small compared to other on farm digesters in the United States.

Funding for this project was secured from multiple sources, including NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). For farmers looking for biodigester funding, Steinman had several suggestions. First, he said, talk to your Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) county office. In addition, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) is a grant program administered through USDA’s Rural Development office. Through REAP, farmers and rural businesses who meet grant criteria can apply for grant funding up to 50% of the cost of an on-farm alternative energy project, including anaerobic biodigesters. Steiman also suggested talking to your state Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Management or Protection as funding sources. It is also worth investigating local conservation districts and utility companies that may offer funding for on-farm alternative energy projects.

Funding for this project was secured from multiple sources, including NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). For farmers looking for biodigester funding, Steinman had several suggestions. First, he said, talk to your Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) county office. In addition, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) is a grant program administered through USDA’s Rural Development office. Through REAP, farmers and rural businesses who meet grant criteria can apply for grant funding up to 50% of the cost of an on-farm alternative energy project, including anaerobic biodigesters. Steiman also suggested talking to your state Department of Agriculture and Department of Environmental Management or Protection as funding sources. It is also worth investigating local conservation districts and utility companies that may offer funding for on-farm alternative energy projects.

With this new biodigester, Steiman and Dickenson College are using farm and food-waste streams to generate renewable energy right on the farm and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With nearly 5,000 dairy farms in Pennsylvania alone with an average herd size of 100 cows, this project is intended to showcase how biogas production can work for mid-sized farms across the state and the country. The college is partnering with Penn State University and agriculture producer groups like PASA Sustainable Agriculture to use this project as an on-the-ground demonstration of properly sized biodigester design and implementation and to educate farmers on the benefits of biogas production at this scale.

By Chris Lent, NCAT Agriculture Specialist

Related ATTRA Resources:

Episode 350. Mid-Scale Biodigester with Matt Steiman of Dickinson College

Biodiesel Use, Handling, and Fuel Quality 

Micro-Scale Biogas Production: A Beginners Guide 

Anaerobic Digestion of Animal Wastes: Factors to Consider

Other Resources:

Biogas – Dickinson College Organic Farm 

Organic Farm Dickinson College – YouTube 

Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans & Grants 

On-Farm Energy Initiative, NRCS 

Produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.

ansas lawmakers ended the legislative session without passing a plan intended to help make a pitch for the Kansas City Chiefs to leave Missouri and relocate across state lines.

Legislators met Monday afternoon on the penultimate day of the legislative session to discuss proposed changes to an economic development program. Despite agreement on the proposal, the bill never got a vote before the Legislature adjourned early Wednesday morning.

The “temporary and targeted changes” would be to sales tax and revenue bonds, said Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stilwell, as he wore a Chiefs lapel pin.

“We called this meeting because of recent events in the Kansas City region where there was a vote to extend sales tax for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals, which failed pretty miserably,” Tarwater said. “We kind of had an idea that was going to happen, so we’ve been working on some sort of a solution for them for some time now without their involvement.

“We just want to make sure that we have the right plan for when the time is right for us to start those negotiations.”

The government subsidy bill won support from a conference committee.

“We see an incredible opportunity, an exciting opportunity, to put Kansas on the map along with states that have professional sports,” said Sen. Renee Erickson, R-Wichita.

Is there still a chance Kansas lawmakers make a play for the Chiefs?

But the STAR bond bill was never brought up for a vote Monday or Tuesday before the Legislature adjourned. Internal political differences among Republican leadership appear to be to blame in addition to fear of a narrative that lawmakers were giving tax breaks to a large company while failing to secure meaningful tax relief for Kansans.

Gov. Laura Kelly has already vowed to call a special session because she will veto the tax cut plan passed by legislators on the last day.

Tarwater said lawmakers could try again at making a play for the Chiefs during the special session. But the process would be more laborious since they would have to start over, hold actual commerce committee hearings and have floor debates and possible amendment. The attempt during veto session did not follow that normal legislative process.

“That’s going to be something that we’re not going to have a whole lot of time to do,” he said early Wednesday morning after the House adjourned. “Who know? Maybe? Because we did have the votes on both sides, and I’m very disappointed that they didn’t even take it up.”

STAR bond districts would try to lure NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL teams

The plan would have been done through a gut-and-go of House Bill 2663. It would authorize STAR bond districts to build a new stadium and practice facilities with a minimum investment of $1 billion. Up to two professional sports teams from the NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL could use the program.

Local cities and counties wouldn’t have to offer their own incentives, but they could in what Tarwater likened to a bidding process among local governments in Kansas.

“We want to make sure that since Jackson County dropped the ball here that we’re in a position to do a scoop and score,” Tarwater said before the plan failed.

Voters in Jackson County, Missouri, rejected a sales tax for the Chiefs and Royals. The Kansas plan wouldn’t necessarily require any public votes.

“It’s important to note that no Kansans will be asked to pay any more taxes than they currently are,” Tarwater said. “There won’t be a vote for sales tax because of this bill. This bill can happen in either way. We are using tomorrow’s money to pay, and it’s tomorrow’s money that we otherwise wouldn’t receive because these structures will bring it in the business and they will cause development around them.”

As reported in the Topeka Capital Journal