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Recognizing the wave of opportunityOne day last October, in a hotel restaurant in Laguna Beach, I came to the realization that those of us in agriculture needed to be more like surfers. You see, a surfer waits in the water for a wave and, when the wave comes, they try to ride it as long as they can. In agriculture, the waves of opportunity come less frequently and, when they come, we must be prepared and, more importantly, we must be willing to attempt to ride the wave. In the world of food production today, very few things seem to be sexy enough to discuss. On the other hand, farms producing energy are a real wave of opportunity. I do not necessarily agree with the manner in which corn-based ethanol has been mandated, but by the same token you have not heard me complain about it. I have been told, and would agree, that ethanol has done more to improve the image of the American farmer than anything that has happened for quite some time. That, in my mind, has tremendous value. Without trying very hard you can find a negative article about modern livestock production on any given day--too many animals, too much confinement, too many antibiotics used and on and on. On my last trip to Wisconsin, I felt a revitalized energy regarding the image of the livestock producer. Gary and Rose Boyk operate Vir-Clar Farms, a 1,300 cow dairy near Fond de Lac, Wis., in a county that is home to three dairies with operating methane digesters. Renewable energy from American farms is the "in" thing. And when a livestock operation can install equipment that contributes to our energy independence, it is great for not only our country but our image as well. The Boyks hosted "Chick Day," an event for dairywomen sponsored by the Vita Plus feed company. For me, to watch Gary telling these 120 ladies about how his operation was producing electricity for 350 homes annually was pretty exciting. Gary indicated that it would only take five years to pay for their investment in methane capture. He is using a digester, a separator and a Cat engine to produce electricity, nitrogen-rich nutrient water to fertilize the soil, dried solids and heat. The dried solids are actually used to bed cows in the free style barn and a local nursery uses them for potting soil and landscaping. I predict that the day is coming when he is offered more for the solids than he can justify in keeping them for cow bedding. Heat from the processing is captured off of the engines to heat buildings and water for daily use. It has always been easy for us to brag about the high quality, safe dairy products that come from American farms but honestly, we as consumers take that for granted. Now to produce energy from a cow, pig, chicken or even a duck is way cool. In addition to providing the local community with electricity, the anaerobic process removes most of the odors. About 135 electricity-producing manure digesters now exist on U.S. farms according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Those systems produce 248 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Of course, as with any technology, there are nay-sayers. Ironically, the very same people who complain about livestock agriculture as an environmental hazard also complain about the methane capture process. To date, research is telling us that it will take a minimum of 600 cows to efficiently operate a methane capture digester. In fact, Gary Boyk told me that their final expansion from 900 to 1,300 cows was simply to assist with a more profitable anaerobic process. So it is high tide for this dairyman to dawn the surfer gear and ride the wave, the wave of telling his neighbors that his dairy is now providing the electricity for the microwave that heats their food. The dairy and beef products in that microwave could have come from Vir-Clar Farms, in addition to the organic plant food that makes their flowers bloom so bright. Yes, the future of agriculture does look very bright if enough of us are willing to jump aboard that wave and ride it as if our life depended on it! Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or e-mail Trent at trent@loostales.com. 9/10/07
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