In a 20-mile radius of York, N.Y., more than 30,000 dairy cows on 100 farms produce as much sludge as 1.5 million people. But with the help of Cornell University agricultural engineers, the community literally may soon clear the air.

The community around York will hear a report on Monday, March 24, on the feasibility of a central plant that would remove manure odor, recycle manure for value-added products, improve dairy waste management and perhaps provide energy back to the community. All this, and it would more than pay for itself, too.

William Jewell, Cornell professor of agricultural and biological engineering, will present a report "Evaluation of Anaerobic Digestion for Groups of Dairy Farms in Upstate New York," at an open meeting March 24 at the City of York Town Hall, 2668 Main St. York is located north of Geneseo, N.Y., in Livingston County.

Due to space limitation, the 10 a.m. presentation will be for dairy producers and individuals closely associated with dairy production. The 11 a.m. presentation will be for the general public.

The report was compiled by Peter E. Wright, Cornell senior extension associate in agricultural engineering; N. Peter Fleszar, former Cornell research support specialist; and Amy Safinski and Adam Zucker, Cornell undergraduate students in agricultural and environmental engineering. The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service.

"The dairy industry is being challenged more than ever to provide better waste management in the areas of pollutant run-off, volatilization of methane and carbon dioxide, and odor control," Jewell said. "Our study examined the feasibility of a centralized facility in the York area, which would be able to generate electricity from the methane, and return the digested, stabilized material back to the farm."

Currently, there are over 100 anaerobic digesters, as the central plant is called, in operation on farms in this country -- and nearly half use design information generated at Cornell, Jewell said. The largest system was built in 1982 -- for 15,000 dairy animals all on one site -- which paid for itself within two years.

The use of anaerobic digesters is not new; in fact, the concept has been around for decades. Digesters essentially oxidize organics in manure (which is 90 percent water) and remove the odor, so that the organic matter effectively "cooks" itself within several days.

What is new is the concept of reclaiming the nutrients or the fiber back from the manure, and turning them into "value-added" products. For example, by using the reclaimed by-product of manure as "bedding," farmers could grow certain high-protein plants to feed their cattle on a fraction of the acreage.

Jewell believes that with the technical improvements in manure management for dairies with fewer than 600 cows -- that is using a centralized processing facility -- savings from manure storage will offset the costs of the facility.

"While there are obstacles, there are also benefits that may interest the community and the dairy farmers," Jewell said. "The pollution control and increased management efficiency of a centralized facility -- serving smaller dairies in the York area -- could pay for itself," Jewell said.

Small centralized facilities, operating in Europe for more than a decade, process a combination of animal and commercial waste, Jewell said.

The idea for York is but a small start. Jewell found that a cow on a 600-cow farm could generate about $400 of total by-products annually. Once the manure byproducts are reclaimed, he said, that cow could generate as much as $500 annually.

"We're making the odor disappear, the manure disappear, we're adding value to manure byproduct, and we're trying to do all this while minimizing the cost," Jewell said. "Manure can be a high-value product."