- link Copy Url - [ Share on twitter ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/1238566?absolute=1&via=3blnews "link to 3 B L Media's Twitter") - [ Share on linkedin ](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/1238566?absolute=1 "link to 3 B L Media's Linkedin") - [ Share on facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/1238566?absolute=1 "link to 3 B L Media's Facebook") - [ email Share via email ](mailto:?subject=How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure&body=ESG News from Vanguard Renewables https://www.3blmedia.com/markdownify/node/1238566?absolute=1 "Share via email") [Energy](/CSR-News/energy-0) # How Dairy Farmers Are Turning Manure ##### These New Englanders have found a way to help the planet and convert more than 9,000 tons of cow waste annually into electricity Nov 13, 2023 9:35 AM ET ![Dairy cows](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Dairy-cows_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "Photographs by David Degner") ![Denise Barstow Manz and her father, David Barstow](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Denise-Barstow-Manz_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "Denise Barstow Manz and her father, David Barstow, are the seventh and sixth generations of dairy farmers in the family. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Barstow-property_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "The black-covered digester on the Barstow property, first installed in 2013, was later expanded by Vanguard Renewables. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Cleaning_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "Steve Barstow shovels manure, which will be moved into a chute, to be delivered to the anaerobic digester. David Degner") ![Anaerobic digestion infographic](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Anaerobis-digestion_Vanguard-renewables_110123.png) ![John Hanselman, co-founder of Vanguard Renewables](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/John-Hanselman_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "John Hanselman, co-founder of Vanguard Renewables, hopes to expand his company to include 100 digesters by 2026. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Facility_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "At a Vanguard facility in Agawam, Massachusetts, food waste moves through machines that separate it from packaging and turn it into a slurry. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Digester_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "A digester at Goodrich Farm in Salisbury, Vermont. Each tank is covered with material that puffs into a dome as micro-organisms produce methane gas. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Lance-Butler_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "Lance Butler, the facilities manager for the Goodrich Farm Digester, troubleshoots and adjusts the system. Because the waste inputs vary, depending on what is being discarded, there is a constant tweaking of the additives and speed to promote maximum methane production. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_2x/public/images/Overalls_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg "At Goodrich Farm, well-worn overalls hang on pipes that carry manure out of the cow barns. It is then separated into components for the anaerobic digesters. David Degner") ![Dairy cows](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Dairy-cows_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=eed8f32f "Photographs by David Degner") ![Denise Barstow Manz and her father, David Barstow](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Denise-Barstow-Manz_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=757167c1 "Denise Barstow Manz and her father, David Barstow, are the seventh and sixth generations of dairy farmers in the family. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Barstow-property_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=96be51b2 "The black-covered digester on the Barstow property, first installed in 2013, was later expanded by Vanguard Renewables. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Cleaning_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=96be51b2 "Steve Barstow shovels manure, which will be moved into a chute, to be delivered to the anaerobic digester. David Degner") ![Anaerobic digestion infographic](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Anaerobis-digestion_Vanguard-renewables_110123.png?h=e5b7fc89) ![John Hanselman, co-founder of Vanguard Renewables](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/John-Hanselman_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=757167c1 "John Hanselman, co-founder of Vanguard Renewables, hopes to expand his company to include 100 digesters by 2026. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Facility_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=96be51b2 "At a Vanguard facility in Agawam, Massachusetts, food waste moves through machines that separate it from packaging and turn it into a slurry. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Digester_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=96be51b2 "A digester at Goodrich Farm in Salisbury, Vermont. Each tank is covered with material that puffs into a dome as micro-organisms produce methane gas. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Lance-Butler_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=757167c1 "Lance Butler, the facilities manager for the Goodrich Farm Digester, troubleshoots and adjusts the system. Because the waste inputs vary, depending on what is being discarded, there is a constant tweaking of the additives and speed to promote maximum methane production. David Degner") ![" "](/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_thumbnail_x2/public/images/Overalls_Vanguard-renewables_110123.jpeg?h=757167c1 "At Goodrich Farm, well-worn overalls hang on pipes that carry manure out of the cow barns. It is then separated into components for the anaerobic digesters. David Degner") [Originally published by Smithsonian Magazine](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/dairy-farmers-turning-manure-into-money-180981809/) By [**Rachael Moeller Gorman**](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/author/rachael-moeller-gorman/) Photographs by [*David Degner*](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/author/david-degner/) The Connecticut River cuts between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire and rushes into the heart of Massachusetts, where Denise Barstow Manz stands in the wind, surveying the land her family has farmed for 217 years. “We have some of the best soil in the entire world,” says Barstow Manz. “It’s called Hadley silt loam.” She explains how the rich Connecticut River flood plain that’s wedged between the river and the Mount Holyoke mountain range behind her nourished tobacco, asparagus, broom corn and squash for her 1800s ancestors, and how it now grows hay and corn for the current farm’s 600 dairy cows. Her dad, David Barstow, co-owns the farm with his brother, Steve Barstow, and his niece and nephew, Shannon and Steve II. David is “the director of special projects,” his daughter teases. “Anytime we are doing anything that is unusual, which is almost always, Dad is in charge.” In the early 2000s, when the price of milk plummeted and dairy farms everywhere were trying to find a way to diversify, the Barstows began thinking about how to stay alive. They decided to take full advantage of an underutilized commodity the cows produced in abundance, and build something called an anaerobic digester—basically, a manure-fueled power plant. It was a business decision that happened to have profound environmental consequences. Cows produce milk, but microorganisms in one of their four stomach compartments also produce methane. They belch methane out of their mouths, and when mountains of manure pile up in oxygen-free lagoons or pits, the micro-organisms keep producing methane there, too. 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