Closed-Loop System
Threemile’s Closed-loop System
We are proud to lead the way in modern agricultural operations through our closed-loop system. This circular agriculture system brings together crop farming and dairy production. These are highly complementary pursuits when done with care – particularly when it comes to recycling nutrients. Our on-site methane digester puts organic nutrients generated by cows to use in two key ways: producing a carbon-negative fuel source and creating healthy soils. We operate under a zero-discharge permit, which means that animal waste never enters streams or groundwater sources. As a result of our closed-loop system, we can grow crops efficiently and produce milk while also lowering our greenhouse gas emissions.
Image Description
The image features an infographic illustrating a closed-loop system at Threemile Canyon Farms. It is depicted as a circular flowchart, highlighting the regenerative nature of the system. At the center is a circle labeled “Healthy Cows & Healthy Soil” with an icon of a cow and plant. The chart is divided into sections with an arrow pointing clockwise, representing the process flow. Starting at the top in green, “Our cows produce milk and manure” leads to “Digester processes manure into products, including organic fertilizer” in dark green. This continues to “Organic fertilizer applied to crops according to nutrient management plan” in blue. Next, “Healthy soil helps us grow an array of crops” in dark blue feeds into “Crops feed cows and people” in purple. The cycle progresses to “Excess potato processing byproducts like peels and culls are returned to the farm and recycled as feed for cows” in dark purple. Finally, “Our animal nutrition program guides the proportion of each feed component” in yellow completes the cycle.
To the right, additional arrows indicate outputs such as high-quality milk for cheese, clean energy from renewable natural gas, and digested solids transformed into cow bedding. On the left, a labeled section states, “Closed-loop system starts with healthy cows and healthy soil,” elaborating on the regenerative process. Below, text notes that organic and conventional crops are brought to market by partners, represented with a small tractor icon.
The closed-loop system follows these steps:
- Healthy cows produce milk that is used to make high-quality cheese, as well as manure.
- Our methane digester processes the manure, which is then transformed into the following products:
- Clean energy in the form of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) captured from methane that us used to fuel transportation in the U.S. The digester improves air quality while creating enough energy to generate about 1/3 of our farm’s annual power needs. The digester sequesters over 152,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. This is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 35,558 passenger vehicles, or CO2 emissions from 20,472 homes’ energy consumption, or carbon sequestration by 152,907 acres of forest land.
- Solids into soft fiber clean bedding for cows that helps them stay warm and comfortable.
- Nutrient-rich organic fertilizer that we apply to our crops.
- Our nutrient management plan guides fertilizer application to crops. Using this natural fertilizer dramatically reduces our use of fossil fuel-based fertilizers on all crops while increasing the production of our certified organic crops. Our farm is an acknowledged leader in “green-water” application.
- Crops are rotated to maintain healthy soil. While farmers usually rotate potatoes every third year with other crops to help replenish the soil, we’ve extended that rotation to grow potatoes in a given field one out of every four years. This leads to better crop quality and fewer problems with disease.
- Organic and conventional crops are grown to feed cows and people, with the latter taken to market by our valued partners.
- Crops are processed into feed for the cows, where our nutrition program guides the proportion of each feed component.