Sustainability
Adirondack Farms is a key contributor to ensuring a sustainably nourished planet for future generations.Recycling manure through anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digesters work similarly to a cow or human stomach. The materials enter the digester (or stomach), micro-organisms (bacteria) break down the material, and then gas and a solid substance are left. The biogas can be used like natural gas to heat homes, power buses, or run cooling systems. The solid substance, or digestate, is separated further resulting in dry material which is used as soft bedding for our cows, and a nutrient-rich liquid that is used to fertilize the fields.
Farmers recycle resources wherever possible. The goal is to have a closed-loop operation.
This includes using manure as a natural fertilizer in the fields. We store the manure from our cows in professionally engineered storage units. In the spring, we pump manure directly from storage to the fields and inject it with dragline directly into the ground. This process helps maintain the integrity of the soil, significantly decreases road traffic and fuel use, and reduces odor.
The cows actively participate in reducing our carbon footprint.
Adirondack Farms is proud to partner with a company in Massachusetts, which takes food scraps from local businesses and creates a stable, nutrient-rich product that is incorporated into our cow feed. These food scraps would otherwise end up in a landfill, so our cows are actively recycling too!