Jordan Dairy Farms in Rutland, Massachusetts, turned cow manure and food waste into a profitable resource by installing an anaerobic digester in 2011. The system processes around 20,000 tons of food waste and 9,125 tons of manure annually, generating about 4,200 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity yearly. This initiative saves the farm roughly $155,000 per year through reduced costs for heat, fertiliser, and bedding.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
For generations, cow manure was simply an unavoidable byproduct of running a dairy farm.
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manure → run → farm
At Jordan Dairy Farms in Rutland, Massachusetts, however, it became something much more valuable: a source of electricity, heat, fertiliser and even animal bedding.
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it → become → electricity
In 2011, the family-run dairy installed what it describes as the first agricultural anaerobic digester in Massachusetts.
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it → run → Massachusetts
The system uses microorganisms to break down manure and other organic waste in an oxygen-free environment, producing biogas that can be used to generate electricity.
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that → use → electricity
Randy Jordan, who runs the farm with his brother Brian, was looking for a way to deal with rising electricity costs.
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who → run → costs
Jordan Dairy Farms had hundreds of cows producing manure every day, and Jordan began exploring whether that waste could be converted into energy.
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waste → have → energy
By 2020, the system was saving the farm roughly $155,000 a year through heat, fertiliser, and bedding produced from what would otherwise have been waste.
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what → save → heat
How does a manure digester work?
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digester → work → ?
The science behind the system is based on a natural biological process.
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science → base → process
Organic material such as manure contains compounds that microorganisms can consume.
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microorganisms → contain → that
Inside an anaerobic digester, the material is kept without oxygen, allowing microbes to break it down and release a mixture of gases, including methane and carbon dioxide.
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microbes → keep → methane
The methane can then be burned to generate electricity and heat.
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methane → burn → electricity
At Jordan Dairy Farms, manure is not the only material entering the digester.
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manure → enter → digester
Food and beverage waste collected from businesses is mixed with the farm's manure, increasing the amount of organic material available for digestion.
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waste → collect → digestion
According to Vanguard Renewables, which operates the system, the farm's digester receives around 20,000 tons of food waste and 9,125 tons of manure every year.
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digester → accord → manure
The material is processed inside a 500,000-gallon digestion tank.
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material → process → tank
Microorganisms break down the mixture, producing biogas that powers two engines.
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that → break → engines
Together, the engines have a capacity of about 800 kilowatts and generate approximately 4,200 megawatt-hours of renewable electricity annually, according to Vanguard.
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engines → have → Vanguard
Manure becomes electricity, heat and fertiliser
The process produces several useful outputs, turning one waste stream into multiple resources for the farm.
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process → become → farm
The electricity generated by the system can be used on the farm, while excess power has also been sold directly to nearby businesses.
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power → generate → businesses
The heat generated during the process is another important benefit.
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heat → generate → process
In 2020, Jordan told The Washington Post that heat and hot water produced by the digester saved the farm around $35,000 a year.
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heat → tell → 35,000
The farm also receives a huge volume of liquid fertiliser from the digestion process.
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farm → receive → process
Jordan said at the time that the system produced about 14 million gallons of liquid fertiliser annually, saving the farm roughly $100,000 in fertiliser costs.
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system → say → costs
The solid material left behind could also be used as animal bedding, providing another estimated $20,000 in annual savings.
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material → leave → savings
Together, those savings amounted to around $155,000 a year.
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savings → amount → 155,000
The current project information from Vanguard similarly lists reduced energy costs, low-carbon fertiliser, heat reuse, reduced chemical fertiliser use and odour reduction among the farm's benefits.
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information → list → benefits
The idea of putting food waste into a manure digester was particularly important to the project's economics.
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idea → put → economics
When Jordan first investigated digesters, the technology had already existed for decades.
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technology → investigate → decades
But many earlier systems struggled financially and operationally.
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systems → struggle → ?
According to The Washington Post, energy consultant Bill Jorgenson proposed combining food waste with manure.
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Jorgenson → accord → manure
The additional organic material could increase energy production, while companies looking to dispose of food waste could pay fees to have that material processed.
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material → increase → fees
That created a second revenue stream around the same piece of infrastructure.
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That → create → infrastructure
The arrangement also addressed another environmental problem: organic waste sent to landfills can generate methane as it decomposes.
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it → address → methane
Capturing organic material in a controlled digester instead allows much of that methane to be collected and used.
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much → capture → methane
For the farm, waste from food processors and other businesses becomes an input rather than something with no value.
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waste → become → value
What happens to the methane?
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What → happen → methane
The biogas produced by the digester contains methane, which is the component used to generate energy.
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which → produce → energy
At Jordan Dairy Farms, the gas is directed to generators that produce electricity.
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that → direct → electricity
The heat produced in the process can also be recovered and used around the farm.
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heat → produce → farm
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
