UK Launch for Bauer Bedding System
2009-09-15

Spreadwise Ltd and Bauer GmbH are launching the FAN Bedding Recovery Unit (BRU) at the Dairy Event & Livestock Show.

Bauer BRU

Farmers visiting the Dairy Event & Livestock Show being held at Stoneleigh in September will have their first opportunity to inspect a unique system designed to reduce the cost of providing a safe and comfortable bedding material for cattle.

The Bedding Recovery Unit (BRU) being launched at the event by farm waste handling specialist Spreadwise has been developed by FAN Separator GmbH, an affiliate of the Austrian ecotechnology company BAUER.

Spreadwise recently installed and commissioned the first such unit to be used anywhere in Europe. It separates undigested fibres from slurry then dries and sanitises them to produce an economical source of bedding that also has a beneficial impact on a farm’s slurry storage requirements.

“The Bedding Recovery Unit is an innovative, cost-effective and environmentally friendly system that not only has the potential to reduce bedding costs but also to reduce a farm’s carbon footprint,” says Fred Percival, managing director of Spreadwise. “It produces a dry and absorbent material available fresh every day from a process that kills potentially harmful bacteria and also reduces slurry storage capacity needs by as much as 20%.”

The system works by separating the liquid and fibre content of slurry then treating the larger undigested fibres in a patented aerobic process that dries them while eliminating any harmful bacteria. This process requires no external heat source, so the bedding material is produced with very low energy consumption.

“The material produced by the BRU is safe and provides cows with a comfortable environment that reduces the risk of injury and encourages improved milk yield,” adds Klaus Ferk, manager at the BAUER affiliate FAN: “And since the process runs automatically, it needs little intervention or management other than routine daily checks and maintenance.”

Investment in a FAN Bedding Recovery Unit will also be recouped through cost-savings in home-produced or bought-in bedding materials and streamlined storage and application of slurry.

Spreadwise and BAUER staff are currently monitoring the performance of the first installation on a Cheshire dairy farm and plan to release details of installation and running costs and pre- and post-installation bacterial counts in due course.

The Bauer Group at a Glance

Since its foundation in 1930, the BAUER Group with its headquarters in Voitsberg, Styria, has been emphasizing on irrigation- and slurry technology. Whilst producing wastewater and slurry pumps in the beginning, the company became an international player in the sector of irrigation technology for the first time in 1947 already with the patent-protected Bauer lever lock coupling - named according to Rudolf Bauer, the company founder. Nowadays the company is developing towards the biotechnology sector, i.e. wastewater treatment or biogas plants.

BAUER is the market leader of irrigation technology worldwide: With its "flagship", the Rainstar irrigation machine alone, a surface of more than 800.000 ha is irrigated all over the world. Another major part of sales with approximately 50% of the total turnover is achieved in the sectors of slurry and environment. T he BAUER Group is exporting to more than 80 countries of the world. With ca. 500 employees, they made an annual turnover of 145 million Euros in 2007/2008. With an export ratio of more than 93%, the main markets of the BAUER Group are Germany, France, the CEE countries, China, the USA, South-America and Australia.
 
The BAUER group currently comprises 20 companies worldwide.

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