Fridays on the Farm: Improving Waste Storage on a Vermont Dairy Farm

By Quentin Melson

This Friday, meet Adrian Fortin, a dairy farmer in Holland, Vermont. His small, 380-acre farm has been in his family since 1922, when his grandparents, Henry and Cecil Fortin, purchased it. For over one hundred years, the family has provided Vermonters with locally sourced milk.

Adrian’s farm is home to over 300 head of dairy cattle. Following proper feeding practices to ensure that his cows have the necessary nutrients for milk production, he’s had to come up with an effective manure management plan for the 4,428 gallons of manure they produce each day. 

Establishing a Plan

Adrian reached out to his local USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office for help in coming up with a manure management plan that ensures environmental compliance, protects water quality, and capitalizes on manure’s value as a nutrient-rich fertilizer. It was determined that a new waste storage facility was needed.

Adrian applied for assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), teaming up with NRCS staff in Vermont and local state conservationists to turn the one-hundred-year-old farm into the twenty-first century with a modern waste storage facility.

“For much of the farm’s existence, the Fortin family had to utilize an undersized earthen manure storage system that was inefficient and caused environmental problems,” said NRCS Conservation Planner Brittany Choiniere.  “It also had failing structural integrity, and the gravity manure transfer system was no longer functioning.”