Cutting the Cheese: One Dairy’s Green Answer to Methane Gas
Fair Oaks Farm believes in a grass-to-glass approach to dairy production in which the
entire dairy is run in a waste-less full circle system. From growing and harvesting the
feed for its dairy cows to recycling 32,000 cows worth of manure to provide all the
farm!s electricity and to fertilize the land on which it depends, Fair Oaks keeps the
environment surrounding it healthy and sustainable. The dairy also runs an exciting and
one of a kind Dairy Adventure which is open to visitors 361 days a year. The tour is both
interactive and entertaining, educating local visitors, travelers, and school groups about
how a dairy works and teaching the Fair Oaks brand of responsible and ...
About You
Contact Information
Title
Ms.
First name
Julie
Last name
Basich
Your job title
Genreal Manager
Name of your organization
Fair Oaks Farms
Organization type
Business & Non-profit
Annual budget/currency
Annual Budget/Currency
Mailing address
856 N 600 E
Telephone number
219-394-4014
Postal/Zip Code
47943
Country
United States
Website
Email address
Alternative email address
Your idea
This will be the address used to plot your entry on the map.
Street Address
856 N 600 E
City
Fair Oaks
State/Province
Indiana
Postal/Zip Code
47943
Country
United States
Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant
Quality of tourist experience and educational benefit to tourists , Quality of benefit to residents for the destination , Quality of tourism management by destination leadership , Quality of stewardship of the destination.
Organization size
Medium (101 to 1000 employees)
Indicate sector in which you principally work
Tourism-related business
Year innovation began
2004
Place your video embed code here from YouTube, Google Video and other video sharing websites. How to embed a video from YouTube.
Indicate sector in which you principally work
Culinary or agritourism.
Name Your Project
Cutting the Cheese: One Dairy’s Green Answer to Methane Gas
Describe Your Idea
Fair Oaks Farm believes in a grass-to-glass approach to dairy production in which the
entire dairy is run in a waste-less full circle system. From growing and harvesting the
feed for its dairy cows to recycling 32,000 cows worth of manure to provide all the
farm!s electricity and to fertilize the land on which it depends, Fair Oaks keeps the
environment surrounding it healthy and sustainable. The dairy also runs an exciting and
one of a kind Dairy Adventure which is open to visitors 361 days a year. The tour is both
interactive and entertaining, educating local visitors, travelers, and school groups about
how a dairy works and teaching the Fair Oaks brand of responsible and ...
Innovation
What is the goal of your innovation? Please describe in one sentence the kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.
Raising stewardship standards and consumer awareness of 21st century farming
operations through educational tourist adventures and innovative farming practices.
Please write an overview of your project. Include how your approach supports or embodies geotourism or destination stewardship. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the map located on the competition homepage.
Fair Oaks Farm believes in a grass-to-glass approach to dairy production in which the
entire dairy is run in a waste-less full circle system. From growing and harvesting the
feed for its dairy cows to recycling 32,000 cows worth of manure to provide all the
farm!s electricity and to fertilize the land on which it depends, Fair Oaks keeps the
environment surrounding it healthy and sustainable. The dairy also runs an exciting and
one of a kind Dairy Adventure which is open to visitors 361 days a year. The tour is both
interactive and entertaining, educating local visitors, travelers, and school groups about
how a dairy works and teaching the Fair Oaks brand of responsible and innovative
farming. The farm runs a full-service cafe which attracts Dairy Adventure participants
and a culinary crowd of visitors to enjoy the award winning products produced by the
farm. Not only do the experiences at Fair Oaks provide a pleasurable and diverting
attraction, but local visitors come away with a deeper understanding of and sense of
pride toward the farming culture in which many of them live.
Explain in detail why your approach is innovative
Fair Oaks is an industry leader in tourism attraction, alternative energy, and
environmental stewardship. Fair Oaks is one of the first and only farms in the world to
install manure digesters and is one of few farms of its magnitude to rely completely on
the digestion of manure from its own cows to create usable methane biogas which
provides for all of the farm!s energy needs. The dairy reduces its carbon footprint
through a variety of other methods, only one of which includes creating a unique mix of
feed and supplements to reduce the amount of methane in a cows belch by more than
20%; cow belching is responsible for nearly 59% of the average American dairy!s
greenhouse gas production. The dairy is vertically controlled so that Fair Oaks is in
command of all aspects of dairy production and creates zero waste, making it one of the
most green, if not the greenest dairy in the world. The Dairy Adventure provides a
unique "edutainment! experience that combines education and entertainment. The Dairy
Adventure operates at a size, diversity of attractions, and level of popularity that is
unlike and unmatched by any other dairy.
Impact
Describe the degree of success you have had to date. How do you measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the impact on sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How has it transformed or contributed to the power of place or demonstrated the sustainability of tourism? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?
The Dairy Adventure and farming methods of the dairy itself have shown tremendous
success and promise since their installation. The tourist portion of the farm has grown
exponentially from a mere 2,000 visitors in 2004 to over 400,000 visitors in 2008. The
dairy has been profitable and has created jobs and new money in the community,
allowing local businesses to survive and grow. Each dollar spent by Fair Oaks Farms
has been calculated to circulate seven times through the local economy. The alternative
energy project has been so successful that Fair Oaks is currently gaining patents for its
work. Across all of Fair Oaks! operations, the farm has achieved a measurable decrease
in greenhouse gas emissions by greater than 44% when compared to the average dairy
in the United States, as well as a reduction in the amount of fresh water used in the
facilities by 67% by recycling water from the manure digesters. Fair Oaks is also only
one of two dairies which meet the standards to be Validus certified as a Certified
Responsible Producer, a prestigious certification that indicates to consumers that Fair
Oaks meets the highest standards in animal welfare, environmental stewardship, and
safe product production.
In what ways are local residents actively involved in your work, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?
Fair Oaks is a respected member and employer of the local community. Local residents are able to participate and learn about the farm’s work through the Dairy Adventure and the feedback has been enthusiastic and supportive. When Fair Oaks recently applied for the approval to add 8,000 more cows to its team, a request that is generally fought vehemently by the residents of communities surrounding dairies due to pollution and land contamination issues, the Fair Oaks community voiced support which resulted in the awarding of additional permits to the farm. Community responses such as these reflect the goodwill the community shows towards the dairy.
How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?
Unlike the many closed-door farms and dairies in existence, Fair Oaks invites visitors to
explore all parts of the way it works. Steps into the dairy!s doors, visitors are greeted by
an enthusiastic and smiling staff member who informs guests how to make the most of
their adventure at the dairy. All the exhibits and tours at Fair Oaks are aimed to be fun,
novel, hands-on, and educative. Whether visitors are simply coming for a bite to eat or
are taking the full dairy tour, Fair Oaks welcomes its guest in for a taste of the local dairy
culture.
Describe how your work helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues.
The interactive nature of the Dairy Adventure brings visitors into first-hand contact with
the inner workings of the dairy and the needs of the land on which dairy farming
depends. This “edutainment” experience engulfs visitors so that they leave the Dairy
Adventure with a deeper understanding of the enormous and complex dairy process,
creating a sense of kinship to the farming community and the land that supports it.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.
The alternative energy programs at Fair Oaks are financed with profits from the sale of
its dairy products. The Dairy Adventure is a non-proit organization with separate
financials. The Dairy Adventure is funded by its own gate revenue as well as funding
from the “dairy checkoff” program. Every dairy farmer in the US is able to allocate 5
cents of every 100lbs of milk sold to an approved dairy promotions facility through the
dairy checkoff program, Fair Oaks is such a facility.
Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? Is there a potential demand for your innovation?
Our initiative is sustainable and there is current and future demand for our way of
farming. As consumers, and consequently retailers, begin to care more about the
environment and where their food comes from (especially in wake of recent food safety
scares), pressure is being put on suppliers to meet heightened expectations, of which
Fair Oaks already exceeds.
What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?
Because the work being done at Fair Oaks is groundbreaking, the investment that was
necessary to instate the manure digester program was substantial and promised no
return. However, with the knowledge gained from the innovations tested at Fair Oaks,
we know that our approach to farming is very replicable and can be very successful. For
other dairies that would like to replicate our methods, the cost of purchasing and
installing the necessary equipment may make the initiative prohibitive or seemingly
unnecessary for less successful or less environmentally conscious farms.
What is your plan to expand or further develop your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.
As we expand our dairy in the future, we will make sure that all new cows added to our
dairy are accompanied by the construction of anaerobic digesters to cover their waste.
Research is also underway to and ways that the biogas energy produced by the
digesters can be converted into renewable natural gas for use in natural gas pipelines
and vehicle fuel. Also, Fair Oaks currently has 600 acres set aside for expansion in
various areas, some of which include expansion of the energy focused portion of the
Dairy Adventure and an events field which will host local events.
The Story
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.
Fair Oaks farms is one of the largest and arguably the greenest dairy in the United
States. It cares for over 32,000 cows which produce the milk for the ice cream and
cheeses manufactured at the dairy. The farm runs a unique Dairy Adventure attraction,
full-service food cafe, cheese factory, gift shop, and bottling plant which are open to
visitors. Fair Oaks cheese is well known in the dairy community and attracts many
culinary visitors, recently bringing home titles such as Grand Champion World Dairy
Expo and Overall Winner U.S. Cheese Contest.
What is the origin of your innovation? Tell the Changemakers and media communities what prompted you to start this initiative.
When Fair Oaks was created, the management group and owners gathered to imagine
the challenges they would face being a 21st century dairy. Challenges posed by the
environment and energy needs came immediately to light. Fair Oaks decided to
proactively address these issues by researching and implementing the most cutting
edge alternative energy options and using responsible farming methods to create a
waste free farm. The farm also decided to create the Dairy Adventure attraction and
cafe in order to entertain and involve the community in its work. By managing every
aspect of the dairy process, from growing the cow feed to controlling milk product
manufacturing, Fair Oaks is able to keep the dairy circle moving and waste-free. This
attention to sustainability grows not only out of a sense of responsibility toward the
environment and community, but also a recognition of what Fair Oaks believes are the
necessary actions that they need to take in order to survive and be pro?table in the
future.
Describe some unique tourist experiences that your approach provides. Be specific; give illustrative examples.
On a trip to the Fair Oaks Dairy Adventure a visitor can enjoy a bus tour of the dairy,
visit the cheese production and milk bottling facilities, sample all of the dairy!s products
in a full-service cafe, and much more. In a multi-room walkthrough, visitors are
transported to a far-off land where talking trees and animals guide them through the
steps of grass-to-glass farming. More unique encounters at the farm include a 4-D
amphitheater where visitors can see, hear, and touch an entertaining video detailing the
workings on the farm. There is also a one-of-a kind birthing barn where visitors can
observe the process by which baby calves enter the world. The dairy “fun room” is an
expansive space dedicated to interactive exhibits, including a “quick draw of the milk
claw” attraction where visitors race against one another to attach a milk claw the fastest,
and a skeleton race where visitors speed to answer dairy-related trivia so that their
skeleton can scale up the wall. During warmer weather, visitors can ascend a rock wall
fashioned onto a giant milk bottle or younger visitors can cruise on a miniature John
Deer tractor.
What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?
Fair Oaks is at the forefront of the dairy industry in the area of alternative energy and
has little to go on aside from its own experience. A professional partnership with a
alternative energy association or group of energy engineers, who could help expand
and refine Fair Oaks' manure-methane recycling project to be more efficient and
effective, would be a wonderful asset to the farm.
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 | 156 weeks agoCheryl Hargrove said: This is a great entry, but I'd like to know more about how it is influencing agriculture in other parts of the state (which state, by ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 162 weeks agoAriane Grazian submitted this idea. |
