For the twelfth, and last proper day within the Netherlands, our Plus3 Group went to the world’s first and only Floating Farm. During this visit, we learned about the various products produced by the Floating Farm’s cows. The process revolves around circular design; every piece of produce gets used. One example regards the reuse of cow dung as a material for new components. As the cows produce excrement throughout the day, a small robot collects the droppings and compresses them for refinement into a brown, plastic-like, material. Every part of the Floating Farm gets reused to minimize waste and achieve a self-automated farm.
The Floating Farm also uses the dung in the below-water plant nursery as water. By cleaning the fecal matter, the excess water gets used to hydrate the plants growing underneath the main area where the cows live. These plants live under grow lights and use fertilizer also made from the cows. The whole building incorporates every aspect of the cow to create a self-sufficient ecosystem. While milk gets produced, the additional uses for the cows generate value for the Floating Farm than traditional agricultural spaces.
Traditional farms lead to heavy deforestation and water usage to carry out the daily needs of plants and animals. The Floating Farms do not occupy land, thus decreasing deforestation for fertile land. Additionally, the whole system of the Floating Farm requires fewer external resources to operate, therefore making the farm a sustainable agricultural practice. Beyond farming, including circular engineering in all future designs can help create a more sustainable future. The world tosses millions of pounds of garbage daily, so any effort to reuse this waste can help save the Earth from us.
The choice of cows further contributes to the sustainability of the Floating Farm operation. The farm exclusively raises Meuse-Rhine-Issel (MRI) cows for their cheese output and friendliness. While the American black-and-white cows produce a larger daily volume of milk at eight gallons, these American cows only produce milk for three-fourths of the year. Meanwhile, the farmers at the Floating Farm chose to use MRI cows for their year-round milk production of six gallons. In addition, MRI cows behave considerably nicer than black-and-white cows, which makes MRI cows a lot better for curious children and visitors. Planning for the long term helps the Floating Farms remain sustainable and open for the public to understand and experience. Opening designs to allow inquisitive minds to flourish can allow future engineers, like myself, to moo-ve forward in creating a greener future.