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.
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.