Turning waste into power in Vermont

Iowa Farm Bureau leaders tour manure digester partnership producing renewable natural gas at Goodrich Family Farm.

An innovative partnership in Vermont has paired a generational dairy farm with a sustainable waste management company to operate an anaerobic digestion facility where cow manure and food and beverage waste are combined to produce renewable natural gas.

Iowa Farm Bureau county presidents toured the Goodrich Family Farm in Salisbury during their annual presidents' incentive trip in July. This year's week-long trip took them through Vermont, with stops at dairy farms, a hops operation, a maple syrup producer and other agricultural businesses.

Goodrich Family Farm milks 900 dairy cows and cultivates 1,750 acres of hay along with 650 acres of corn. Vanguard Renewables owns and operates the anaerobic digestion facility on site, which includes two 925,430-gallon digesters, a phosphorous management system and a hydrolyzer. The facility produces 140,000...