Closed Loop Aqua Farming

Organic Farming - Increasing Economics and Diminishing Land Use

2011-10-23T19:45:00.002-02:30

Organic farmers have received negative comments from fellow commercial farm groups such as being labelled as Organic freaks. However for years, the biggest insult was being dismissed as being inefficient and ineffective. The mainstream industry all but wrote off Organic farming being unable to keep up to the productivity of conventional intensive agriculture.

A recent report, that CropLife Canada financed, concluded that without pesticides, fertilizers and biotechnology, Canada would need another 37 million acres of cropland -- the equivalent of the total annual cropped area of Saskatchewan, or four times that of Ontario -- to produce the same amount of food.

But that's not necessarily the case anymore. New research is emerging, based on long-term, scientifically valid trials, to show that organic yields of field crops can mimic conventional yields and in some cases, overtake them. And they can do this while consuming less energy.

The latest such effort has emerged from the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania, which released a report last month based on a 30-year research trial comparing conventional and organic production methods.

"Organic farming is far superior to conventional systems when it comes to building, maintaining and replenishing the health of the soil," the institute reports. "For soil health alone, organic agriculture is more sustainable than conventional. When one also considers yields, economic viability, energy usage and human health, it's clear that organic farming is sustainable, while current conventional practices are not."

The trials, which were based on corn and soybean crops, found over the 30-year period organic yields not only surpassed conventional systems, the organic trials outperformed conventional during drought conditions, they consumed 45 per cent less energy and they were more profitable. The study also found the conventional approach produced 40 per cent more greenhouse gases.

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If we were to look at the full possibilities and take the organic sustainable approach a step or two further to include interpreted crop production utilizing the principals of aquaculture, aquaponics, and model operations with Biomimicry methods, we could certainly improve upon production output and greatly increase productivity per acre seen in even the best run conventional or organic farms.

The proof of this is being seen in numerous similar type operations around the world. What is more, these types of closed loop systems have been shown to reduce the resource input needs tremendously while making maximum use of bi-products to help produce a greater variety of safe food in a very energy efficient manner.

In another post I linked a video titled “1 million pound of food on 3 acres.” This is a short presentation on the Growing Power facility that illustrates the feasibility of operating land based aquaculture and aquaponics systems integrated with value added bi-product utilization.

Link To Video

We believe that even operations as seen in the video can be improved upon and that we can expand upon the regions where such a facility can be located. This can be made possible by selecting the right production processes matched with the most efficient equipment and buildings.

The next generation farms need to be designed to incorporate sustainable practices and equipment technologies with age old proven food farming techniques to produce food at the highest level of output while maintaining the lowest level of impact upon the environment.

I will be writing more on the subject in future posts.

What Is Sustainable Land Based Aqua Farming?

2011-10-21T14:55:00.003-02:30

In my opinion, it is the synergistic combining of resource conservation technologies for water and energy management with Aquaculture, Aquaponics culture techniques in a manner where resource inputs are minimized and negative impacts mitigated.

Well designed and properly operated land based Aqua farms provide safe high quality food products to consumers while minimizing the resource inputs and maximizing conservation. Based on science and technology, this farming method has emerged and the best green alternative to provide consumers with value, taste and convenience in consumption of eco-friendly seafood and vegetable products.

The entire production process is designed to incorporate modern sustainable equipment technologies with age old proven food farming techniques to produce food at the highest level of output while maintaining the lowest level of impact upon the environment.

What Is the Need?

To give the most simplistic answer; the need for this type of sustainable farming is to help ensure that the food supply stays a breast of the increasing population and overcomes the effects of diminishing resources.

Two examples of sustainable aquatic farming are land based Aquaculture and Aquaponics.

As a result of vast reductions in wild fisheries and increased demand from the growing world population, commercial Aquaculture, (fish farming) has had to expand immensely to fill the demand for fresh fish and seafood. Fish farming now contributes more than 50% of world fish and seafood supply on both subsistence and a commercial basis.

Aquaponics, the polyculture production of plants and vegetables using “fish farm water” has also expanded rapidly to fill the demand for fresh, wholesome produce grown in a sustainable, safe and economically feasible manner using organic by-product nutrients.

The need for change in seafood supply lead us to Aquaculture and now the need for changes and improvements in the way we farm fish has lead us to developing methods to conduct aqua farming in a more sustainable manner.Integrated food production using the proven principals of Aquaponics combined with green energy technologies and utilization of by-products works toward closing the loop in sustainable food farming.

In today's farms we need to incorporate Biomimicry methods and implement sustainable solutions by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies. The overall goal is to create products, processes, and policies that are well adapted to maintaining constant sustainable food production and life on earth into the future.

As resources become increasingly scarce and more expensive we need to design farms with conservation and re-use technologies and we need to operate in a more efficient manner. The often ignored bi-products of one farm process need to be viewed as being valuable resources that can be reused or re-purposed within a broader more diversified operation.

Illustration of the closed loop farm process.

Sustainable Aquaponics Video

2011-10-21T01:53:00.001-02:30

Here is an interesting Video that I would like to share with you.

This is an aquaponics operation owned and managed by Growing Power located in the USA. They seem to have a great facility running producing sustainable food. 1 MILLION pounds of Food on 3 acres. 10,000 fish 500 yards compost annually. This serves well to show the possibilities and opportunity.

The video gives a good idea of the type of operation we are designing. We have some added design specific energy saving items and have taken the closed loop approach to further enhance the diversify the farm outputs .

Enjoy !

Closed loop process illustration below.

Integrated Recycling Aqua Farm Systems

2011-10-21T00:50:00.002-02:30

After years of Aqua Farm operation and much trial, error and also success, we are now finalizing the IRAFS design and operational plan. The intention of the IRAFS design is for commercial Land Based Aqua Farm production on an intensive basis. I will endeavour to post on smaller home or group sized units later.

The IRAFS systems can be installed in existing buildings, greenhouse structures or specifically built barns. The modular design and system process technology can be adapted to perform in various climates including northern regions and in those with wide variations in seasonal temperatures.

The initial design was developed to fulfill the need for sustainable closed loop food farming systems in colder climates. These locations require that installation be in a highly energy efficient building constructed to minimize energy loss, mitigate adverse effects from climate and incorporate state of the art energy conservation technologies.

However the modules can also be installed and operated in existing buildings of various sizes. These could include farm barns, warehouses or equipment sheds etc. Depending on the location and the building selected some amount of renovation may be needed to minimize energy loss to the environment. Such a retrofit would generally include the installation of technologies to conserve and reduce energy needs in production operation technologies, such as lighting, heating, cooling and water conservation.

In warmer climates the IRAFS modules can be installed in buildings with less robust insulating, heating and cooling technologies or in commercially available greenhouse structures. This would include locations where greenhouse and basic hydroponics systems are operated year round. In a retrofit situation the IRAFS modules can improve the production output and crop diversity of greenhouse operations that rely on standard technologies and operation methods.

Whatever the building, as long as it is sound and structurally safe, it is now possible to incorporate one or more IRAFS modules and produce wholesome sustainable food for private use, community use or commercial production. There are still be locations where it may not be economically feasible to farm food at a profit year round because of severe adverse climate conditions, however the IRAFS adaptability and energy conservation design greatly increases the amount of locations above where traditional farming, or intensive greenhouse production methods are not viable.

The following diagrams are provided to highlight the overall farm integration, system process, energy efficient building design and related items. There is much more technical data that isn't yet included here. These images are for illustration purposes only

NorthernAquaFarms.com

Land Based Aquaculture - Introduction

2011-10-20T15:34:00.001-02:30

Land based fish farms that utilize technology to recycle and reuse water supplies and to prevent waste discharge and fish escapement are among the most eco-friendly and sustainable methods of aquaculture. Farms that incorporate water recirculation aquaculture systems into their design are proven to be the controllable of all commercial fish farms. Another very important advantage to land based operations is that they can be located in close proximity to markets

Taking these systems one step further involves the incorporation of polyculture techniques, where plant crops are grown using the nutrients produced by the fish crop. This is known as aquaponics, a farming technique that is becoming more common in the design of both small and larger scale farms. Land based farms using aquaponics demonstrate one of the most promising of alternative aquaculture practices.

Aquaponics is the name given to the synergistic combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. The appeal of aquaponics is that in combining the two activities the potential negative aspects in each are dealt with in a viable and sustainable manner. In other words, the sum of the two when combined has greater benefits than the individual activities alone.

The process makes use of waste products from growing fish as a natural nutrient source for plants. Nutrient rich fish water from the fish tanks is pumped into the plant growing area - which can be simple gravel beds, trough type tanks, hydroponics NFT tanks, or drip feed systems. Whatever the type, plants growing in the system extract the nutrients from the water, nutrients that the fish provide. The plants clean the water of excess nutrients; the water is then oxygenated by simple means and is reused again and again in the fish rearing tanks. This practice makes efficient use of what would otherwise be considered organic waste.

There is minimum effluent runoff from this type of farming. Plants and bacteria in the growing beds use nutrients from the fish effluent and in return purify the water for the benefit of the fish. Fertilizers normally required for hydroponics production are not needed, the integration of plants and fish actually necessitates that NO chemical pesticides or medications be used.

A well designed and properly operated system will use about one tenth of the water required for normal vegetable growing and reduces the water needed for single usage fish farming by 95% or greater. The system can be quite simple and revolutionary because it generally does not make use of complex technology normally required for high tech aquaculture, hydroponics, or both.

Lettuce, chives and other leafy crops were the first crops raised using aquaponics. Commercial growers and researchers have also had excellent success with growing tomatoes, cucumbers, and a variety of peppers. Flowers including lilies and even roses and many other crops, have been produced using aquaponics. Over 280 different plants and vegetables have been grown using aquaponics.

Tilapia, a fresh water fish that is hardy and fast growing, is most commonly raised fish in aquaponics. Numerous other freshwater fish, such as crappie, bass, carp, brim, goldfish and koi are being raised in aquaponics. More intense commercial operators are experimenting and developing hybrid systems to raise trout, char and salmon, such systems are more complex and require higher levels of technologies and management for rearing environment control.

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