Rainbow Valley Farms-Sidney, Maine
“Turned Windrow”, Compost System—Harland Bragg, Operator
Harland and Jeff Bragg (Rainbow Valley Farm), Sidney
Monday Afternoon
Maine Compost School—2013 (photos by Mark King)
Operated as a family-owned Dairy farm for more than 4 decades, Rainbow Valley Farm has epitomized the term ‘Sustainability’ by recycling all of their farm generated materials through a turned windrow compost operation operated by Harland Bragg.
Always striving to do more, the Bragg’s are currently perfecting an anaerobic digestion system that will process the bulk of the liquid manure generated by the dairy operation. The methane captured during digestion will be purified and used to fuel a generator to supply the farm’s electrical needs. The digested solids will be used as a bedding substitute, compost ingredient, or may be land applied.
The generated liquids will also be returned to the soil as a fertilizer source. This project is being conducted by Jeff Bragg and Will Brinton, Woods End Research Laboratories, Mt. Vernon, Maine.
Receiving /Mixing Area-Waste animal feed and dairy bedding are stored in bunkers until ready for composting. Ingredients are applied in a layered format, creating long windrows on the facilities’ asphalt compost pad
Composting Area-The compost mixture is then thoroughly homogenized using a Sandberger Compost Turner®, pto-driven windrow turner for a 6-8 week active compost period. Once completed with the active phase, the windrows are allowed to cure for 3-6 months and then the product is coarsely screened and sold through “Bulk”
Follow Us!