100-Dollar-Ideas
The back end of a cow provides the front end of the green-energy business that Kevin Maas is slowly expanding in Western Washington and Oregon. With missionary zeal, he and his brother Daryl build modest electricity-producing projects that help family-owned dairyfarms preserve their key role in the agricultural ecosystem.Their company, Farm Power, turns manure into electricity, fertilizer and bacteria-free animal bedding. The technology is fairly simple. What’s hard about a manure digester is linking farmers, bankers, regulators, environmentalists and utilities.
Midwest Environmental Advocates and their clients have paid Rosendale Dairy for legal and expert witness fees to settle the dairy’s claim that MEA’s claims are frivolous.
The Tillamook area producer agreed to restore and preserve more than 20 acres of historic wetlands to resolve a federal Clean Water Act violation.
A 4,500-cow dairy proposed for Adams County has received the state water protection permit and high capacity well approvals necessary to operate, although it must meet additional requirements aimed at protecting area groundwater and lakes and streams.
California dairies combine for manure-to-energy benefits
But a survey finds those who would pay more would only be willing to pay 1% to 5% more.
The world’s rising temperature is slowing production of major food crops, and as global warming continues, the trend will significantly disrupt the economies of many countries and impair the health of their people, Stanford researchers say.
USDA and World Wildlife Fund join the panel that will judge the newly launched awards program.
John Noble, a sixth generation dairyfarmer, got his first taste of the benefits of biogas about a decade ago, when he installed a small system on his Wyoming County farm.Now, Noble and a host of investors, including a handful of local farm families, are getting into biogas in a big way. Synergy Biogas, an entity owned by Florida-based renewable energy company CH4 Biogas, last week took the wraps off its new biogas power project, located on the 1,850-cow dairyfarm that Synergy owns in Wyoming County.
The race to create a better, less controversial biofuel has spawned plenty of research into a variety of potential new sources - including switchgrass, cornstalks and algae. One goal behind the next generation of ethanol fuel is to end the debate over whether crops that could be used for food or animal feed are being converted into fuel. It’s a debate that’s dogged traditional ethanol, made from corn. A team of Wisconsin researchers say they may have found an abundant and eminently Dairyland ingredient for ethanol - cow manure from the state’s dairyfarms. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a coalition of state firms have been awarded $7 million for bioenergy research that would use a manure byproduct to produce ethanol at a dairyfarm in Manitowoc County.The funding was awarded by the U.S. Energy and Agriculture departments through their joint biomass research-and-development initiative.
Goal is to seek long-term solutions for state’s struggling dairy industry, with recommendations developed by year’s end.
Family has farmed the land for 100 years, and today its thriving dairy farm uses cutting-edge technology to increase profits and protect the environment.
The lawsuit protests the governor’s recent permit allowing more dairy cows in the wake of growing yogurt demand.
The site reinforces the U.S. dairy industry’s important role in a safe, affordable and abundant food supply.
The award recognizes exceptional leadership in conserving California’s resources, protecting and enhancing the environment and building public-private partnerships.
Panel discusses how environmental sustainability leads to profit.
New research shows antibiotic treatments of hoof lesions can trigger milk residues.
A report last week from Mighty Earth, a campaign of the Center for International Policy, took a break from criticizing farmers and ranchers that raise livestock for meat, and instead turned their attention to the meat companies and feed suppliers (ie. crop farmers), asking them to provide “pollution-free” feed.
Free registration is available for the Nov. 12 conference in Fresno.
Green Mountain Power has partnered with a family farm to set up its third wind turbine to save money on electricity.
Dairy farms and businesses are changing the equation for sustainable business practices.
A conservation tillage pioneer defies skeptics to reap tangible benefits for his farm, his dairy and the environment.
Sustainability, consumer perceptions and building consumer trust discussed during first day of the 2015 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit.
The contributions of U.S. dairy farmers to reducing food waste and generating renewable energy are featured in National Geographic’s special “Food of the Future” series.
Officials for a Lincoln, Neb.-based grocery chain are hoping to turn tons of produce, bakery goods, meat scraps, floral arrangements and cardboard into a salable compost product after it’s mixed with manure from a dairy.