Sustainable cow comfort
Tim and Anneke, passionate dairy farmers, strive to have sustainable cow comfort on their farm. They achieve this with sand as bedding material for the cows in combination with a sand separation system. Their choice for this system is based on sustainability and on the health of the cows. This resulted in greater returns from the company. After thorough research into sand separation, they haven chosen Mavasol.
Benefits of the Sand Cannon system for Tim and Anneke
- Reduction of sand stocks and costs for new sand purchases
- Suitable manure for biogas plants after processing
- Reuse of clean and dry sand
- Remarkably high reuse percentage of sand
- Fully automated, remote control possible
- Potential for integration with a biogas plant
At Hof ten Molenbos, efficiency comes first. The sand separation system not only offers the opportunity to repeatedly reuse the sand as cubicle bedding, but also reduces external dependency for sand delivery. This approach fits seamlessly with Tim and Anneke's vision, where it is not only beneficial for the cows, but also has a positive influence on milk production.
Mavasol collaboration
After the first appointment with Mavasol, which took place on the farm in Belgium, a visit to Denmark followed. Where they, together with Klaas of Mavasol, visited a Sand Cannon. The visit provided the insights and confirmation they were looking for. Tim and Anneke then chose to purchase a Sand Cannon as a sand separation system.
How does the Sand Cannon work?
Manure scrapers bring the manure to a central drainage channel that ends in the collection pit. From there the manure goes to the final manure separator. A mix of ten percent manure with ninety percent thin fraction prepares the manure for separation. This is how the sand is 'washed' from the manure. The heavier sand sinks, while the thicker fraction floats further. The sand is then raised with an auger screw and after a final rinse with rain water, dumped into a heap. After three weeks, all bacterial life has disappeared from the sand and it can be safely reused. This way they can recover 95% of the sand.
Savings & results
The initial investment in the sand separation system has provided Hof ten Molenbos with significant benefits. The savings not only consist of reduced use of cubicle litter, but also less use of antibiotics and increased milk production due to improved cow health.
