Recycling on the Farm – Practicing Sustainability

If there is one thing farmers want, it is for their work to be sustainable. The dairy industry has set a goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. We work hard day in and day out to make sure we have a legacy to pass down to the next generation. We don’t want the land to be ruined and unusable. The next generation needs to be able to feed themselves. So as we learn more and technology improves, we find new ways to practice recycling on the farm.

While all farms do things a little differently, here are a few ways that our farm recycles.

Recycling Method #1: Using Manure as Fertilizer

If there are cows around, there is manure! The great part of manure is that it is full of nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients plants need to grow. It is also a great source of organic matter, which increases the soil’s structure and ability to hold water. Farmers will spread manure on their fields to return nutrients to the soil and grow next years crop to feed their cattle. After eating, cows make manure and the cycle continues! By using cow manure as fertilizer, farmers do not need to put as many synthetic fertilizers on their fields.

Recycling Method #2: Byproducts as Bedding in the Barns

Farms not only recycle their own materials, they will recycle materials from other industries. Cows need clean, dry places to rest and lay down. To create these beds, we use sawdust from a local cabinet and door factory. We will also bed our calves with straw, which is made of the stems left over after wheat harvest. When these bedding materials get dirty with manure, they break down easily in our fields and are good fertilizer as discussed in the first paragraph.

Recycling Method #3: Feeding Byproducts in Feed Rations

Not only do farmers recycle, the cows do to! Cows are ruminants with 4 stomach compartments so they are able to digest foods that we can’t. We feed cows byproducts of human food production as part of their feed ration.

Byproducts feed :

• soybean meal (byproduct of soybean oil)
• corn gluten pellets (by product of corn processing that makes cornstarch, corn oil, and more)
• corn stalks (byproduct after combining)

Other farms might also feed:

• citrus peels
• cotton seed
• rice hulls
• brewer’s grains (wastes from breweries)
• candy factory rejects
• and more!

Recycling Method #4: Water Recycling

Water is a natural resource that some dairies have more access to than others, but most all dairies do some kind of water recycling. We collect all our runoff water from the farm and from washing barns to spread onto fields. We also fill a water trough for cows to drink and run sprinkler systems on the cows with water that was first used to cool milk. Other farms will recycle water from the parlor to flush out barns where the cows live.

Recycling Method #5 – Old Truck Tires to Feed Storage

Finally, old truck tires don’t go to waste around here! We use them to help store our cow feed all year. After we pile up our silage and pack it down, we cover it with plastic and old truck tires so the feed stays air tight. This allows the feed to ferment and stay fresh until we are ready to feed it. And yes, we put allllll those tires on the piles by hand!

Recycling on other Farms

Some farms are able to do more recycling based on their size, location, and resource availability. Here are some more ways other farmers recycle:

• Anaerobic Methane Digestion – Manure into energy and solids
• Sand Separation – cleaning and reusing sand for bedding more than once
• Cow Manure into biodegradable planting pots
• Cow manure into fresh barn bedding

Recycling on the Farm Rewards:

By working to find new ways to recycle and increase our sustainably, dairy farming as an industry has improved its carbon footprint in the last few decades. From 2007 to 2017, producing a gallon of milk has required 30% less water, 20% less land and had a 19% smaller carbon footprint [source]. We look forward to keeping our industry improving and leaving a future for the next generation.

If you ever have any questions about our industry, leave me a comment and if you found this article on recycling on the farm helpful and interesting, share it with a friend!

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