At Royal Family Farms, returning to natural processes has been an innovation that overhauled the way we think and operate. We have learned how regenerative agriculture capitalizes on natural biological cycles and ecosystems and have combined them with updated tools and techniques to manage modern issues. In 2017 Austin Allred incited sustainability by implementing the Biodynamic Aerobic (BIDA) System which uses worms to clean wastewater and repurpose it for continued use.
-“With cow manure and compost and worm castings and the practices we’re doing, all of those pieces contribute to having a soil that is healthy and pulling carbon out of the air and banking it in the soil,” –Austin Allred
This addition created a ripple effect and has led to mindful crop rotations, minimized and targeted tillage, thoughtful use of cover crops, maximized local inputs, and the use of compost and animal products for soil health and water management. These practices have created natural long-term structures on our farm that encourages sustainability and has laid the groundwork for other farms at our scale to see how achievable and efficient regenerative farming can be.
-“Royal Dairy and the
Allred family are continuously striving to implement exemplary sustainable dairy management practices in a manner that defines the future of dairy farming. It is an honor that they considered our BIDA System for their green water, and we are proud to help them achieve regenerative agriculture practices.”
– Matt Tolbirt, BioFiltro CEO
-Our BioFiltro utilizes worms’ digestive systems to remove 99% of water contaminants in waste water. In other words, our waste water is turned into clean water suitable for reuse in farming.
Every day, over a half a million gallons of wastewater from the dairy is pumped through an extensive 5 acres of worm beds. The beds include wood chips rocks and millions of worms. The worms’ unique digestive system allows them to breakdown the organic matter and consume the liquid manure and wastewater, removing about 90% of the nitrogen, 70% of the phosphorus and about half of the potassium. The water travels through crushed rock and settles at the bottom of the beds, and exits out a pipe for use on the farm once again.
Royal Family Farms cleans and reuses its water more than 10 times before the water leaves the farm! The dairy has also cut its nitrate pollution and lowered its greenhouse gas emissions, all thanks to this new kind of worm powered wastewater system. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of clean water annually run through the worm beds and is collected and used to irrigate 3,500 acres of crops that are then fed to our cows.
The worms’ unique digestive system
allows them to breakdown the organic matter and consume the liquid manure and wastewater, removing about 90% of the nitrogen, 70% of the phosphorus and about half of the potassium. The water travels through crushed rock and settles at the bottom of the beds, and exits out a pipe for use on the farm once again.
We have been grateful to work with BioFiltro and utilize their research to make us more efficient and sustainable. Learn more by clicking the button below!
