1775 Old 6 Road PO Box 535 Brook

The hills north west of Brooklyn will soon boast a Netherlands flair. The economic conditions of dairy farming in Netherlands inspired many there to look elsewhere to set up shop. One young couple decided upon Iowa and began the process of designing a Dairy Farm from scratch.

The layout of the design naturally funnels the flow of by products toward the 3.37 million gallon manure pit. In addition, state of the art labor saving processes will be used to scrape the manure toward the center channel which flows to the pit. Prior to reaching the pit, the manure is infused with an environmentally friendly ingredient to help break it down into liquefied form and virtually eliminate odor. In the future, the

nutrient rich slurry will be automatically fed the crop ground.

This project afforded Manatts an opportunity to corroborate with contemporaries. Meyer Construction Inc. from Sumner, Iowa was the General Contractor. Faas Construction, Brooklyn, Iowa was responsible for the dirt work and Wicks Construction, out of Decorah, Iowa handled the finish work.

Manatts supplied over 1500 cubic yards of concrete for this project. During the Manure Pit phase of this project, it was necessary to have 4 mixers there at all times. Two mixers were constantly supplying the pumps that were stationed on each side of the pit and one needed to be there ready to pour when the other mixers ran dry. Xtreme Concrete Pumping service out of Fairfax supplied the pumps, one with 170’ reach and the other with 105’, to accommodate the 220’ diameter floor.

At start up, this facility will house 300 head of cattle, however, the milking facilities will have the capacity to process milk for up to 600 head.

Upper Right—Wicks placing and finishing concrete.

Middle Right—Manatts Mixers supplying the East pump

Below—Panoramic view of the Manure Pit from the South end.