Bernie Faber’s Dairy Farm: A Refreshing Lack of Hot Air

 Talking about cow manure isn’t usually the best way to draw a crowd, but it certainly drew one on a recent sunny afternoon at Bernie Faber’s dairy farm. The lure was the chance to see a methane digester in action.

The purpose of a digester is simple: cows and their manure give off methane gas, which, in large concentrations, can contribute to air pollution and global warming. If not managed properly, these can also contribute to water pollution. A methane digester turns the methane gas into electricity and the leftover mass is turned into compost that is excellent for your garden. This process has the important side benefit of significantly reducing bacteria in the leftover liquids, which improves the water quality in our rivers. While methane digesters are currently still too expensive to pay for themselves and are generally seen only as pilot projects, several universities are researching new technologies that will enable digesters to pencil out for your local dairy. Bernie Faber's 350-cow CalGon Dairy partnered with Portland General Electric to construct this digester.

Oregon Environmental Council Board and staff visited the CalGon Dairy west of Salem to understand how methane digesters can help make a dairy more sustainable. OEC Board and staff were joined by Katy Coba, Director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture and her staff who work with dairies on their environmental impacts, leaders from the Oregon Dairy Association, Portland General Electric staff, and the Head of the Oregon State Fair. Everyone on the tour agreed on the need to find ways to help this technology pencil out for your local dairy, and on the need for those of us who love to eat cheese, ice cream, and milk to support our local dairy’s efforts to protect air and water quality.

For more information about Bernie Faber’s methane digester, click here.