Dairy farmer Lucas Wilgenburg improved the manure management on his Hanford, California facility, Wilgenburg West LLC, using a $342,207 grant from California Climate Investments awarded by the Alternative Manure Management Program.

Wilgenburg West is now using vacuum suctioning to pick up slurry manure from cow lanes and place wet manure onto windrows of drier manure in a graded compost cement pad. The grade of the compost pad enables water run‑off from the facility and compost yard to be captured without interruption of the compost program and allows for annual composting. Approximately 600 tons of compost are produced each year at Wilgenburg West. The project included construction of a compost cement pad and the purchase of a vacuum tanker to suction slurry from cow stand lanes onto compost.

In addition to receiving this grant, the dairy invested over $500,000 in matching funds and in‑kind contributions to complete the project, aided greatly by funds obtained from High‑Speed Rail Right‑of‑Way purchase of land west of the project site.

“I am proud that this project improved the management of 70 percent of manure and is keeping that manure out of an anaerobic environment,” Wilgenburg said. “Our facility is now an excellent example of what a comprehensive manure management plan can achieve with very low greenhouse gas emissions.” The project’s greenhouse gas emission reductions equate to 4,325 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over five years.

This project allows Wilgenburg West to evolve with the industry and foster environmental stewardship to remain viable and sustainable. The Wilgenburg family has been proactive in exploring and experimenting with practices that will protect the environment as well as create co‑benefits, such as compost production, cover cropping and no‑till soil management.