|[Image: Figure 1.]| |[Image: Southeast research station]|
|[Image: floating islands]| John Westra, Vinicius R. Moreira and
Ronnie Bardwell Beginning in 1989, one-cell waste lagoons were
being constructed on Louisiana dairy farms as new installations
or were modified from established two-stage, aerobic and
anaerobic cell lagoons using financial assistance from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture under the Environmental Quality
Incentive Program (EQIP). Building these types of waste
installations continued through 2000. A best management practice
(BMP) associated with these installations called for the solids
to be removed every four years or so because of the design
standards used in their construction. Cleaning out the waste
lagoon, however, requires equipment most Louisiana dairy
producers do not own. As an alternative, custom cleanout
services are available in the region. Unfortunately, the costs
exceed most producers’ capacity to pay because of thin profit
margins under which most dairy producers operate.