planning for Dairy farming and Bio gas plant. Is it practical?

[yuvi1389]

Hi,

I am about to start my business and was doing some market research on what business is more profitable.
My idea is to open a dairy farm with 100cows and start a bio gas plant along with that. these two business are connected with each other. By dairy farm, i will get milk and cow dung. The Dung can be put in the bio gas chambers which will produce methane(bio gas). The slurry produced after making bio gas can be sold as a manure. By this way we get 4 products (milk, cow dung, bio gas and manure) in which 3 product can be sold (milk, bio gas and manure). What do you think of the idea and is it practical? and if it is practical, then what are the important things to be considered before investing in it?

 

[webnaveenspace]

Hi,

I am about to start my business and was doing some market research on what business is more profitable.
My idea is to open a dairy farm with 100cows and start a bio gas plant along with that. these two business are connected with each other. By dairy farm, i will get milk and cow dung. The Dung can be put in the bio gas chambers which will produce methane(bio gas). The slurry produced after making bio gas can be sold as a manure. By this way we get 4 products (milk, cow dung, bio gas and manure) in which 3 product can be sold (milk, bio gas and manure). What do you think of the idea and is it practical? and if it is practical, then what are the important things to be considered before investing in it?

Yes its very much practical. But nothing is mentioned about the lands available for green fodder cultivation. You may require 5 to 7 acres of land for CO4 grass cultivation. Also setting up dairy farm with 100 cows on one go is not advisable. Start with 25 and keep expanding. All sort of teething issues can be addressed during this period. Its a labout oriented business hence you need to tackle that first. i would suggest you to visit nearby dairy farms and discuss with farm owners so that you will get idea on DO's and Dont's.

On bio gas, it would be ideal to have bio gas generator to convert into electricity for your farm / home use.

 

[shimna]

Bio gas Generator

Dear Enthusiast.

Please may I have more inputs on Bio gas generator?

Where can I buy one and how does it convert bio gas into electricity

Regards,
Shimna

 

[niksnarayana]

Setting up a biogas plant for sale of gas is not practical for 100 cows. You would need to purchase additional cow dung from outside to produce enough to be able to commercially bottle and sell it. Biogas is only 60% methane, rest is CO2 and other gases like water vapour, H2S, etc. It needs to be purified and then compressed into cylinders which is a industry in its own.
Also, slurry is liquid which cannot be sold due to transporting issues. You would need to dry it down to powder form and then sell it, which again calls for specialised equipment.
I suggest right now just concentrate dairy. Biogas for self consumption can be done without issues. Slurry can be used in your fields for fodder manure.
For 100 cows you will need at least 20 acres land.

Nikhil

 

[niksnarayana]

My views

Setting up a biogas plant for sale of gas is not practical for 100 cows. You would need to purchase additional cow dung from outside to produce enough to be able to commercially bottle and sell it. Biogas is only 60% methane, rest is CO2 and other gases like water vapour, H2S, etc. It needs to be purified and then compressed into cylinders which is a industry in its own.
Also, slurry is liquid which cannot be sold due to transporting issues. You would need to dry it down to powder form and then sell it, which again calls for specialised equipment.
I suggest right now just concentrate dairy. Biogas for self consumption can be done without issues. Slurry can be used in your fields for fodder manure.
For 100 cows you will need at least 20 acres land.

Nikhil