Biogas producers struggling to generate revenue from their digestate may find an opportunity to turn this around through the American Biogas Council’s Digestate Standard Testing and Certification Program. Stonyvale Farm is family-run dairy operation in a remote part of central Maine, near Exeter. “It was started by my grandfather in the 1950s,” says John Wintle, project and facilities manager for Exeter Agri-Energy, a spinoff of Stonyvale Farm and ABC member. According to Wintle, digestate is an even better fertilizer than cow manure for a variety of reasons. “We feel that we generate better crop yields as result,” he says. One reason Stonyvale Farm likes digestate over manure as a fertilizer is the odor. He says the farm could not spread manure in summer because windows are open, and the odor would create issues with neighbors. “But we can apply digestate any time,” he says. More >>
