COMPOST BARN The Dairy Foundation has begun a manure composting project with one of our dairy cow herds with the objective to demonstrate, apply research to and extend results from an alternative livestock housing model. This has the potential to benefit current and future family farms, improve the quality of life for the animals and protect natural resources. In most barns, cows reside in stalls that are bedded with straw, cornstalks, sand, sawdust and other commonly accepted materials. This project tests the concept of giving cows free range in a building that is bedded with a solid pack of wood chips. The cows’ manure becomes an agent in bacterial degradation, and the wood chips and manure are tilled together daily to achieve organic composting. Thus, this style of dairy cow housing is referred to as a compost barn.