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More money, less pollution from better waste handling
"Who's your farmer?" read the bumper sticker in the lot of a Grange hall where young farmers were meeting to discuss their place in a rapidly changing world of animal agriculture.
During the Farm Pilot Project Coordination Midwest Technology Summit, being held this week in Des Moines, we will look ahead to a new horizon where innovative technologies on animal feeding operations are employed not only to substantially reduce the discharge of nutrients from the waste stream but also to generate revenue.
The worldwide demand for protein foods, environmental and conservation safeguards, renewable energy, and employment has heightened interest in the use of technology as a necessary means to multiple goals. Whether in manufacturing, operations or growing, innovative technology in the management of renewable resources on America's farmlands marks the opening of a new era.
In years past, Farm Pilot Project Coordination has previewed technologies that were under development for on-farm use that produced biofuels. This year, with the help of several expert panelists, we will examine systems soon to be commercially available. Through the integration of various methods of solid separation and technologies capable of converting biosolids from the waste stream into electric, steam and thermal energy, the FPPC's pilot projects have yielded economically viable and scalable solutions. Many of the components of these integrated systems can be adapted to address nutrient management requirements on poultry, swine, and dairy operations.
Participants in the Midwest Technology Summit will meet and gain valuable insight from farmers, producers, technologists and conservationists with converging interests. Apart from integrating technologies that assure a positive return on investment, the need for environmental sustainability has not been overlooked.
Working together with our various stakeholders and under the guidance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, systems that yield clean and reusable water, as well as alleviate the release of harmful gases into the atmosphere, will also be highlighted.
The future of animal agriculture, enhanced through the introduction of innovative technologies, is promising. The information gathered, the ideas exchanged, and the relationships that will be built this week in Des Moines during the course of our summit will serve as a stimulus for future advancements.
All of us are eager to learn from one another and support the adoption and implementation of new practices and technologies that foster pride in being recognized as "your farmer," yielding new and better paying jobs throughout the rural regions of our country in the process.
Source: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011107130335
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