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Dairy farmer in Washington wants to try reusing wastewater

May 08, 2017

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Producer says the practice could shape the future of dairy farming

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

A farmer from Stanwood, Washington wants to try turning wastewater from his dairy farm into reusable water.

“If this works, this changes the future of dairy farming,” Jeremy Visser told Dairy Farmers of Washington in late April.

Visser has partnered with Dairy Farmers of Washington, the Stillaguamish Tribe, the Snohomish Conservation District and Washington State University to install an Advanced Distillation and Nutrient Separation Processor on his farm.

The machine, developed by Janicki Bioenergy, based in Sedro-Wooley, Wash., would be able to take wet waste from Visser’s 2,000 cows and turn almost 90 percent of it into distilled water.

Bill Gates checks out Janicki Bioenegy's Omni Processor. The device is similar to what may be installed on Jeremy Visser's dairy farm.

The remaining substances can be used as bedding, potting soil or fertilizer.

A similar Janicki creation which served as a template for the farm project, The Omni Processor, turns human waste into energy and clean water.

The water should be safe for the animals to drink, Jeff Graf, in business development at Janicki, told the Daily Herald.

Cows would drink the water to produce more milk and manure, which would complete the cycle, according to Visser.

The processor could prevent some waste from entering local lagoons but it also has to be a sustainable project.

“We want to do the right stuff for the watershed,” Visser told the Daily Herald. “But if this is the next step, I don’t want it to be something that is cost prohibitive.”

An estimated $2 million is needed to complete the installation, which could happen in September or October, says Visser. Dairy Farmers of Washington has pledged $250,000 to the project.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.