Selecting the right team to help bring your facilities and manure management needs and visions to life deserves the same thoughtful evaluation as financial and business advice.

After all, not only is proper manure handing necessary for animal health and comfort, but research also shows dairy manure management emissions may account for a significant percentage of all manure management emissions.

Plus, it often presents many challenging tradeoffs between environmental, economic, community, and farmer priorities. Therefore, appropriate manure management is required to ensure that manure is utilized as a valuable resource with minimal impact on the environment and surrounding communities.¹

You need the right partner to help you address these concerns while providing sound advice to maximize facilities, handling options, employee workflow, nutrient utilization, and future options.

Here are a few points to consider while weighing your options.

• Explore partner knowledge. Select a manure management partner with lengthy industry or related-industry experience who is dedicated to excellence and continuous improvement. A prospective partner should include a team with deep industry knowledge, technical expertise, and a history of tackling challenges that have resulted in positive outcomes for their customers, so ask for references. Years of experience supplying unique solutions with local engineering, service, and knowledge are strong attributes to consider. Finally, can a potential partner help turn manure into a revenue stream if that’s an important consideration for your dairy’s future?
  
  
• Demand equipment durability. Handling manure, especially sand-laden manure, requires specialized, proven heavy-duty equipment. Look for a partner who can deliver equipment designed by engineers who take pride in building easy-to-use products to get the job done right. Can their equipment improve water quality and reduce water usage, for example? Seek solutions with less downtime, fewer parts runs, and less investment needed to sustain the equipment.
  
  
• Get an engineering team with the right know-how. To transform manure from a challenge into an opportunity, look for a dedicated team of manure management engineers focused on the evolution of manure on your dairy farm. A team steeped in process development is ideal because the manure management systems you need to move your dairy forward are based on a series of processes.
  
  Also, choose a partner who will walk your barns, talk to your team, and collaborate with your local dealer. They should ask about the challenges you face today and look ahead to future needs.
  
  
• Require a strong dealer network and sales team. Dependable, dedicated sales and services are the foundation for a lasting partnership. Be sure to investigate a potential partner’s dealer network and sales team. Do they have the knowledge needed to deliver the results you need today and tomorrow? Does a potential partner collaborate with their dealers to offer continuing education and solutions to keep their customers competitive and growing?

Discover more about selecting a manure solutions partner.

Headquartered in Hollidaysburg, Pa., USA, McLanahan Corporation offers over 185 years of experience in providing processing solutions to a variety of materials handling industries. Today, their operation includes offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, China and Chile, and it is supported by a strong network of dealers and partners around the world. For more information, sales@mclanahan.com.