A Wisconsin company plying its wares in Madison this week at the World Dairy Expo is offering farmers a way to turn one of the dairy industry?s messiest problems ? manure ? into cash. With an assist from a team of UW-Madison scientists, Braun Electric Inc. of St. Nazianz makes equipment for the Trident “nutrient management system,” which processes manure that might otherwise pollute lakes and the air into animal bedding, dry fertilizer, mulch and biofuels that can be sold for profit.
….”Farmers will make more money off of manure than milk,” said Aicardo Roa, a chemist from Soil Net, a company which has operations in Madison, Belleville and China. He worked with a team from UW-Madison led by biochemistry professor John Markley to help Braun land a $7.5 million grant from the Department of Energy to make the system available to the public. “We are the first people to understand that manure is a resource. That water, protein, it’s all a resource,” Roa said.