Achieving Climate Neutrality, Creating New Revenue Streams
Thanks to innovations in wastewater management and the adoption of new ideas and management practices, the dairy industry is at the leading edge of achieving climate neutrality. At the same time, these technologies are opening doors to new revenue streams.
A recent episode of PDPW’s The Dairy Signal™ highlighted the ongoing paradigm shift in nutrient management. The episode featured Austin Allred, owner of Royal Dairy near Royal City, Wash., and Dr. Frank Mitloehner, PhD, professor and air quality extension specialist at University of California, Davis.
Allred highlighted the steps he’s taken to reduce his farm’s carbon footprint, slash transportation and application costs and create an alternative fertilizer option. He also shared how producers are increasingly positioned to sell carbon credits and spoke of Royal Dairy’s recently signed agreement with Nestlé.
Dr. Mitloehner shed light on the science behind biofiltration systems, the conversion of biogas into fuel and why so many California dairies are rushing into plans to cover their lagoons. He also touched on dairy’s misunderstood contributions to the carbon conversation, among other emissions-related topics.
In 2017, Allred installed the water-recycling method “that turned green water – my biggest liability – into an asset.” The biofiltration system relies on California red worms, wood chips and the dairy’s wastewater flowing through two slope screens. The system uses 80% less energy than other similar systems.
In considering what’s been learned in the last two decades about ruminant nutrition, Allred said, “I think that same development needs to happen in our soils. Worm castings and composting need to be a bigger part of the conversation because our soils are the answer for a lot of these concerns. We’re taking advantage of opportunities with carbon credits and anaerobic digesters, but the next level is going to be what we can do with the ruminants’ and the worms’ help to get our soils to a point where their carbon-sequestration effect is better.”
Mitloehner added that the dairy sector has the capability to become climate neutral and then sell carbon credits to big-name companies in other industries. While Nestlé is the world's largest producer of food, Starbucks is the largest consumer of dairy products; working with companies of such scale could have huge implications for dairy and provide additional income streams.
“All of the major companies have committed to being carbon-neutral by 2050,” said Allred. “And farms like ours are the answer to achieving that for a lot of them.”
Royal Dairy has been able to reduce their carbon footprint by the equivalent of 42,000 CO2 tons per year. For Allred, their return on investment correlates with the dramatic reduction in trucking costs to haul wastewater to fields for fertilizer application. What used to take three months now takes less than one week each year. And the dairy’s wastewater is clean enough to meet Washington State’s standards for irrigation water through a pivot system.
Their dairy also has revenue opportunity from worm castings harvested from the biofilter. Those castings are currently sold to California greenhouses and there’s growing interest from local orchards and farms.
For more on the timeline of Royal Dairy’s transition from lagoons to the worm-powered biofilter system, as well as discussions on soil-carbon sequestration, the value of worm castings, adding positive function to soil and more, watch the full episode here.
PDPW’s Dairy Signal airs each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. CT, and viewers tuning in live can ask questions of the presenters. All episodes are available here free and downloadable in audio and video format.
Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW) is the nation's largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources, and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
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