October 28, 2016
CapitalPress.com
17
Oregon’s largest dairy runs on closed loop
Farm grows feed
for cow, turns
waste into energy,
fertilizer
By the numbers
Threemile Canyon Farms
LAND BASE
• 93,000 total acres
• 39,500 acres irrigated
farmland
• 23,000 acres in conservation
By GEORGE PLAVEN
DAIRY
EO Media Group
BOARDMAN, Ore. —
The milking parlor at Co-
lumbia River Dairy is a large,
warehouse-like
building
where cows arrive twice a day
to be milked by modern ma-
chinery.
First, the animals are load-
ed onto slowly rotating car-
ousels where their udders are
sprayed with a disinfectant
and attached to automatic
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
pumps. Each spin lasts just a Twin carousels simultaneously milk 80 cows on each side while slowly revolving in the milking parlor at
few minutes before the cows the Columbia River Dairy outside Boardman, Ore.
are unloaded back where
4.8 megawatts of power.
they started. The process is
Myers estimates the facil-
smooth, continuous and effi-
ity, which was built in 2012,
cient.
removes 60,000 tons of carbon
Outside, Milky Way trucks
from the atmosphere annually.
are waiting 24/7 to deliver
From there, about half of
milk from the dairy — part of
the leftover solids are made
Threemile Canyon Farms — to
into animal bedding. The other
Tillamook Cheese, which runs
half is used for organic fertil-
a cheesemaking plant at the
izer. The liquid is pumped into
nearby Port of Morrow. With
one of three lagoons, which is
26,000 milking cows produc-
treated and run through irriga-
ing 170,000 gallons every day,
tion pivots to grow more con-
there is always lots to do.
ventional crops and feed.
Threemile Canyon is, by
“Our average time in that
far, the largest dairy opera-
lagoon is 10 days,” Myers
tion in Oregon. The herd to-
E.J. Harris/EO Media Group
said. “We’re applying that
tals 70,000 cattle, including The three 2,000-horsepower engines in the powerhouse of the
year-round to growing crops.
calves and heifers. Located on methane digester can produce 4.8 megawatts of electricity.
... We never let it become an-
93,000 acres in rural Morrow
County, the farm also grows a yon, defended their manage- acres to growing feed crops, aerobic. That reduces air emis-
variety of conventional and or- ment practices, which he said such as grain corn and a hy- sions.”
ganic crops, such as potatoes, are forward-thinking and sus- brid wheat known as triticale.
Managing nitrates
Everything is harvested and
tainable.
onions, corn and wheat.
“It isn’t bad just because stored for the animals to eat
Now, another mega-dairy
Threemile Canyon is with-
is looking to expand in the it’s big,” Myers said. “It’s ag- year-round.
in the Lower Umatilla Basin
Once the heifers are 2 Groundwater
county, which is raising ques- riculture of the future.”
Management
years
old,
they
are
ready
to
Area,
where
the
level of ni-
tions about water and air
Closed-loop system be milked. Of course, they are trates in the groundwater
al-
pollution in the surrounding
In fact, Myers said, the size also producing waste through- ready exceeds the federal
communities. Willow Creek
Dairy, which has leased land of Threemile Canyon allows out their lives — roughly safe drinking water standard.
from Threemile Canyon since them to do things that wouldn’t 436 million gallons of liquid According to the Oregon De-
2002, wants to strike out on its be practical for a smaller dairy manure every year. Per Ore- partment of Environmental
gon rules for confined animal Quality, the primary source
own and add 30,000 cows on farm.
By growing crops and rais- feeding operations, or CAFOs, of nitrogen in groundwater
part of the former Boardman
ing cows all in the same place, none of that material can be comes from fertilizer, with ir-
Tree Farm.
More than 2,300 com- the farm is able to recycle its discharged into surface water rigated agriculture making up
81.6 percent of the problem.
ments have poured in on the own waste to use as fertilizer or groundwater.
At Threemile Canyon, free-
Opponents of mega-dairies
proposal, mostly in opposi- in the field. That, in turn, cre-
tion. Environmental advoca- ates more feed for the animals, stall barns are flushed regular- are concerned about adding
cy groups argue that Willow thus completing the closed- ly into a concrete collection a second operation so close,
basin, and from there pumped comparing it to a “sewer-less
Creek would produce as much loop system.
“We get big beneficial uses into a methane digester at the city.” Oregon CAFO permits
waste as a mid-size city, and
regulations don’t offer enough out of that cow manure,” My- farm. The digester then heats also lack surface water mon-
protection. They also question ers said. “It’s not a negative for the waste at 100 degrees and itoring required under the
bacteria breaks it down into a federal Clean Water Act, they
the wisdom of having two us. It’s a positive.”
It all begins with the cows. gas. The gas is then burned to argue.
large dairies so close together.
Myers said the fertilizer
But Marty Myers, general Threemile Canyon dedicates drive three 2,000-horsepower
manager of Threemile Can- between 20,000 and 25,000 engines capable of generating that is applied to the farm’s
• 70,000 total cows
• 26,000 milking cows (mostly
Jersey)
• 1.4 million pounds of milk
per day (162,790 gallons)
METHANE DIGESTER
• Built 2012
• $32 million
• 4.8 megawatt power
capacity
EMPLOYEES
• 300 year-round
• 400 seasonal/contract
• $10 million annual payroll
own crops is mixed at precise
rates to ensure nothing leaches
into water supplies. Employ-
ees regularly test the manure to
keep tabs on the nutrient level,
and will apply only as much as
the crop will use for nutrition.
That’s easier said than
done. Phil Richerson, a hydro-
geologist for DEQ in Pendle-
ton, said the soil in the area is
coarse, making it difficult to
keep irrigation from seeping
down below the plant’s roots.
Don Butcher, who manages
water quality permits for DEQ
in Pendleton, said the problem
isn’t just limited to CAFOs.
More land is being converted
to grow vegetable crops. And
more food processors are pop-
ping up to turn those vegeta-
bles into high-value products.
“With all the expansion
and change in the Groundwa-
ter Management Area, we are
concerned,” Butcher said. “We
still have an increasing nitrate
trend.”
Butcher said DEQ works
closely with the Oregon De-
partment of Agriculture, which
enforces CAFO permits for the
state. Wym Matthews, CAFO
program manager for ODA,
said they generally conduct
routine inspections of facilities
once every 10 months.
However, due to the size of
Threemile Canyon, Matthews
said that farm is inspected
once every five or six months.
The most recent was in July.
Over the past decade, he said
the dairy has been issued six
water quality advisories —
essentially a warning — and
two notices of noncompliance,
meaning they’ve violated a
condition of their permit.
In every case, Matthews
said the problem was dealt
with quickly. Overall, he said
he believes the management
practices at Threemile Canyon
are thorough.
“If they see an issue, I think
they do a very good job to
bring it to our attention and re-
pair it,” Matthews said.
Animal welfare
In addition to environ-
mental practices, Myers said
Threemile Canyon is subject
to a three-layer approach to
animal welfare.
First, Myers said the farm
conducts voluntary animal
welfare audits through a com-
pany called Validus. Inspectors
arrive unannounced, and are
free to watch employees and go
over protocol, Myers said.
Last year, Myers said Co-
lumbia River Dairy was the
first in the country to receive
a perfect score from Validus.
They also consistently scored
95 percent or better on how
they treat their heifers, he said.
“Those are pretty impres-
sive scores,” Myers said.
Along with voluntary au-
dits, Myers said the dairy works
regularly with its own animal
advocate, a veterinarian and
professor at Evergreen Univer-
sity. Along with the farm’s own
animal welfare committee, they
make recommendations on
how to improve practices.
“It’s not a static process,”
Myers said. “It’s a continu-
al improvement process, and
we’re proud of that.”
Greg te Velde, a California
dairyman, is the owner of Wil-
low Creek Dairy, which has ap-
plied for its own CAFO license
under the name Lost Valley
Ranch.
Myers has testified in fa-
vor of te Velde, his longtime
tenant. Myers said he believes
they too will be dedicated to
best management practices. A
similar lagoon and land appli-
cation system is proposed at
Willow Creek, and though a
methane digester is not in the
immediate plans, it could be
phased in later.
“They know how to do
things right,” Myers said.
The public comment peri-
od for the Willow Creek/Lost
Valley CAFO has been ex-
tended through Nov. 4.
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