Taiwan imports 50% of its forage grass. The Baweng Circular Agriculture Farm in Liuying, Tainan, replaces some of the original feed by processing agricultural byproducts. Pineapple peels, lemon pulp, and other materials are processed into silage, replacing 30% of the feed. This is estimated to replace nearly 4,000 tons of feed annually, equivalent to a carbon reduction of 1,976 tons. Tainan's first and largest "Livestock Manure Resource Center" will also open here next year.
Tainan's first livestock manure recycling center is expected to open in 2024.
Tainan City has 163 dairy farms, raising 26,000 head of cattle, ranking third nationwide. Tainan's first and largest "Livestock Manure Resource Recovery Center" is scheduled to open in 2024 in the Baweng Dairy Farm area in Liuying. It will process approximately 327 tons of manure wastewater daily and generate 900,000 kilowatt-hours of biogas annually. A second phase of the project will be completed in the future to treat manure from 53 livestock farms in the area.
Baweng, Liuying, is Tainan City's largest dairy farming district, raising nearly 9,000 head of cattle, representing nearly 30% of the city's total. To promote net-zero recycling policies and reuse surplus agricultural resources, the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, is promoting a circular agriculture model in the Baweng dairy district. The Animal Husbandry Research Institute held a press conference on the 16th to share the results of its "Circular Agriculture Demonstration Field Model."
Among the 53 dairy farmers in the dairy farming area, 21 and 3,610 cows participated in the demonstration model. Cow manure and urine were used to irrigate pasture and crops, and fruit peels and pomace were processed into feed to feed cattle, which reduced the cost of agricultural and sideline product processing and feed costs, while also reducing carbon emissions.
Long-term research and development has found a silage formula that does not affect the flavor of milk
The dairy farm's material flow cycle involves separating the solid and liquid components of cattle manure and urine. The wastewater undergoes anaerobic treatment, turning it into biogas slurry (liquid fertilizer), which is then applied to pastures, pineapple fields, and lemon orchards. The irrigation of 30 hectares of Pennisetum pasture is expected to save 720,000 yuan in chemical fertilizer costs and reduce carbon emissions by 102 tons annually.
After the pineapples and lemons are sold, the remaining pineapple peels and lemon residue are mixed with pennisetum to create silage, which is then mixed into the diet for dairy cows. Experiments have shown that silage made with pineapple peels and lemon residue does not affect feed intake or lactation performance in lactating cows, and its effectiveness is comparable to that of conventional feed. Furthermore, silage made with pineapple peels and rice straw can increase crude yield by 2-6%.
Huang Yanliang, head of the Baweng Ranch and secretary-general of the Taiwan Forage Development Association, said that because dairy cow feed significantly affects the flavor of milk, the feed requirements for dairy cows are more stable than those for beef cattle. The current formula was developed after long-term cooperation and research with the Animal Research Institute.
Every environmental audit is like paying taxes. Worm composting also helps reduce carbon emissions.
Taiwan's forage self-sufficiency rate is 50%, with the remaining 50% imported. Huang Yanliang noted that international forage prices have skyrocketed in recent years. At the Liuying Baweng circular agriculture farm, if processed agricultural byproducts replace 30% of the original feed, this would replace nearly 4,000 tons annually, saving NT$110 million and equivalent to reducing carbon emissions by 1,976 tons.
Furthermore, livestock farms previously treated manure and urine in three-stage lagoons, often failing to meet Environmental Protection Agency standards, causing pollution problems. Each inspection felt like "paying taxes." Huang Yanliang explained that after solid-liquid separation of cattle excrement, 50% of the residue is fermented and directly composted, while the remaining 50% is used by earthworms. The solid fertilizer serves as the base soil for the earthworms, which are then mixed with fruit peels and purees to create "earthworm manure organic fertilizer," which is then applied to gardening and pasture fields, reducing environmental pollution and lowering livestock costs.
"Don't let usable products go into the incinerator," said Cheng Meiping, deputy director of the Animal Research Institute of the Council of Agriculture. The Council of Agriculture is currently taking inventory of Taiwan's agricultural and sideline products, creating a list and analyzing their composition, and hopes to have all of them included in the circular agriculture system in the future.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/236769)
