In February, just days before firing up his dairy’s $4 million digester for the first time, California’s John Fiscalini is already discouraged. “If I had known then what I know now, I’m not sure I would have built it,” he says. The Modesto, Calif., dairy producer had hoped to be a successful pioneer in the state’s digester implementation, paving the way with a technology that has promised to provide environmental benefits, energy creation and increased revenue streams. But Fiscalini has encountered one obstacle after another since he began the venture in 2006. He’s seen cost overruns drive up expenses for the aboveground, complete-mix digester, initially projected at $1 million. <more> March 6, 2009 Dairy Today