Dairy farming is a vital part of Dane County’s economy and a major part of dairy farming is handling the manure that comes with it. It’s a shitty job, but somebody’s gotta do it.
The county has two community manure digesters, one in Waunakee and one in Middleton. The goal of the digester is to remove phosphorus from animal waste, thereby limiting phosphorus runoff and improving local water quality.
In 2022, the two dung digesters processed over 105 million gallons of manure and removed 231,000 pounds of phosphorus, which was then recycled and relocated. Phosphorus runoff is often responsible for the toxic algal blooms that show up in the lakes during warmer months. The blooms not only clog boat motors and close beaches, they can be harmful to both pets and humans.
The county’s digesters are unique in that they accept waste from multiple farms. The multi-million-dollar initiative is a public-private partnership between Dane County, independent businesses, and the farming community. The county is currently considering the possibility of adding a third digester to the mix.
While effective, manure digesters have also had major problems. In 2010, an explosion at the Waunakee facility literally blew the lid off a 1.25 million-gallon digester. There was also a series of spills that resulted in hundreds of thousands of gallons of manure polluting local waterways. But most major problems have been remedied since then.
