Fair Oaks Dairy

Fair Oaks Dairy

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
I read an article in Fortune magazine talking about a phenomenal step forward in big agriculture being responsible, environmentally friendly, productive and sustainable. Big Agriculture always seems to be under attack by animal activist groups. So as president and CEO of the Humane Society of the U.S., when Wayne Pacelle visited Fair Oaks Farms complete with 36,000 dairy cows in northwest Indiana, he was fully prepared to be horrified. Instead, Pacelle found a healthy herd, comfortable bedding for the cows, and a ban on tail docking. He also found a farmer who was doing something revolutionary in an industry not known for innovation. Fair Oaks co-founder, Mike McCloskey, was recycling the cows’ waste—turning tons upon tons of manure into an energy source—as part of a quest to reduce his business’s greenhouse gas emissions. in the article there is a chart entitled Fuel to Stool. It starts with step 1: 3 times a day Fair Oaks cow waste is collected and put into digesters. Then, over a few weeks, the waste is processed in a system that imitates a cow stomach. Bacteria breaks down the waste and creates biogas. Some gas is captured and run through generators to power the farm, some is converted to compressed natural gas or CNG. Fair Oaks uses the CNG in milk trucks and replaces millions of gallons of diesel every year. Solids left over from the process are used to fertilize new feed crops. Liquid leftovers are used to irrigate them. Crops are harvested to feed the cows… And you have come full circle.

 

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