Future of Agriculture 143: Dairies becoming Fertilizer Factories with Ross Thurston of LWR and Jay Binversie of Bucky Organics

Future of Agriculture

Ross Thruston is the President and Founder of Livestock Water Recycling, a company that is implementing technology in animal agriculture units that recycles the water and nutrients from animal agriculture systems. He has over 30 years of experience in construction and environmental technology.

Jay Binversie is a third generation dairy farmer and the owner of Robinway Dairy and Bucky Organics. Robinway Dairy is a 1700 cow dairy farm based in Kiel, Wisconsin. Bucky Organics is a company that produces and sells organic plant nutrients. Jay has used the Livestock Water Recycling’s system on his dairy farm for over four years, extracting the nutrients from his cow’s manure and using it to create natural organic plant nutrient supplements for farmers.

Ross and Jay join me today to discuss nutrient cycling and the manure economy. Ross shares what inspired him to create a system for the agriculture industry and how it impacts farm sustainability. Jay shares the agricultural and economic advantages he has experienced since installing the system on his dairy farm as well as how implementing the system has opened new opportunities for growth and revenue. We also discuss how dairy farmers can utilize the LWR recycling system to extract valuable nutrients and materials from their farms to improve their soil health, increase product yields, and make a positive impact on the economy and environment.

“From a sustainability perspective, what we do in terms of compacting and segregating the nutrients lets the manure economy work so you can take nutrients back to your feed sources - which you were never able to do before.” - Ross Thurston

This Week on The Future of Agriculture Podcast:

• How Livestock Water Recycling got started in the animal agriculture industry.
• What inspired Ross to create the LWR system for the ag industry.
• How the LWR system is helping farmers increase product yields and create new income streams.
• Why Jay decided to implement the LWR system on his dairy farm.
• The economic advantages of implementing the LWR system.
• How using the system has impacted Jay’s life and business.
• The primary pain point that often drives producers to connect with Ross.
• The impact that the LWR system can have on ag sustainability.
• How the system can reduce greenhouse gasses in the environment.
• How it opens new opportunities for new marketplaces in the agriculture space.
• How the system has helped Jay reduce the use of antibiotics on his dairy farm.
• The impact that the manure economy has on a farmer’s ability to scale.
• Why farmers are often hesitant to implement new technologies.

Related Content:

• Episode 99: Nutrient Management, Intercropping, and The Sharing Economy with Jason Mauck
• Episode 139: Building a Family Dairy Business Through a Commitment to Sustainability and Rural Communities with Ken McCarty of McCarty Family Farms

Connect with Ross Thurston:

• Livestock Water Recycling
• LinkedIn

Connect with Jay Binversie:

• Robinway Dairy
• Bucky Organics

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