By Dr. Deanne Meyer, Livestock Waste Management Specialist, UC Davis and UC ANR, dmeyer@ucdavis.edu | Originally Published in the July 2025 CDQAP Newsletter

For 30+ years the question remains: which technology should I buy? The cost and how to evaluate potential technologies have changed. Water insufficiency, supply chain expectations and regulatory changes create a new spin on technology analysis.

Do your due diligence.

Will this work on my dairy? Ask questions of anyone who has had ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with the type of technology. Weigh answers based on your animals’ housing, manure collection methods, and climate (soil, rain, heat, cold). Just because it did or didn’t work in Wisconsin or Florida doesn’t mean it’ll work in California. Seek unbiased research results.

A few obvious questions serve as warm-ups: how much does it cost to install and how long will chaos reign at my facility during installation? Will the company provide a site manager, or is that someone from the dairy? Are there any research data from an unbiased source? Then, ask detailed questions about operation and maintenance. What is the probability of no operation (it broke)? What are the operation and maintenance costs during the first 10 years of operation? What is the depreciation rate?

Will this help solve any of my manure challenges? Here’s where you must rely on your consultant network. What improvements in your system are you trying to make? Does this technology address them? Does it create new/different challenges? Your environmental or nutrient management specialist should review the proposed technology and identify any red flags related to nutrient management (nitrogen and salt application to land). Any change in location, volume or character of manure requires a detailed analysis by the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District. Likely, both the nutrient and waste management plans will need to be revised. That requires a Technical Service Provider (TSP) and an environmental consultant. Also, an engineer must review the Waste Management Plan to ensure compliance is real and measurable. Do you need more capacity for storm water? Do you need more crop land? What happens if you need to fallow land due to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act? Be sure your lawyer reviews all contracts. Discuss variables of concern.

CAREFULLY READ statements and ALL CONTRACTS to ensure you understand all potential ramifications on your animal and manure management options. The conversations you have with each manure management experts will have some overlap. Omitting one or more of these discussions will restrict the information you need to make informed decisions.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of gold. A thoughtful analysis of your physical layout, including current and future manure management is essential to avoid ugly outcomes. Look to the future as you do your analysis. What happens if more operational responsibility falls on farm staff? What type of training is needed for current staff or managers? How much additional paperwork or data are needed to monetize the system?

No producer willingly purchases equipment with the goal of it breaking or being a white elephant at the dairy. Consider the cleanup ramifications if this doesn’t go the way you want. For additional information, reread our February newsletter. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to kick some ideas around.