Future of farming

On June 14, a promising agriculture technology was commissioned at Son-Bow Farm near Spring Valley in western Wisconsin. The technology, billed as a nutrient-management system, not only promises to prevent farm waste from getting into lakes by changing the way farmers handle cow manure, it also produces what the manufacturer calls a “super-nutrient” water that improves the fertility of soil. AQUA Innovations, the Sharon, Wisconsin-based environmental engineering firm that manufactures the system, which is marketed as the NuWay process, believes it addresses a host of agricultural challenges, including soil and manure management, and allows farm operators to generate clean and usable water as a by-product of their manufacturing process. At Son-Bow Farm, the technology is expected to reduce the farm’s total cost of production by $1.80 per hundredweight of milk, which is no small figure. While confident the NuWay technology will prove its worth at Son-Bow, Chris Lenzendorf, president of Aqua Innovations, does not consider this a mere demonstration project, as is the case with a Dane County installation now underway in Middleton that will be used as a showcase during World Dairy Expo this fall. For more on how this technology could alter the future of Wisconsin’s economy, read our agribusiness feature in the July issue of In Business magazine. For information on getting your event featured in the IB Gallery, email jason@ibmadison.com.)