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Cattle Feeders Association |
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Cattle Feeders Association |
| 2001 Cattle Feeders
Annual -- Environmental Stewardship
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The Ripple
Effect |
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Ever notice what happens when you toss a stone into a pond? Sure, the ripples spread out in ever-widening circles. But watch what happens when they hit the far bank. They turn around and come back to the center. That's the environmental philosophy that helped Cactus Feedyard win the 2000 TCFA Environmental Stewardship Award and it's the environmental philosophy that has helped Cactus Feedyard be a good corporate citizen and strong advocate of environmental practices for all of its 26 years of operation. The operation, located north of Dumas near the small town of Cactus, includes a 77,000-head feedyard along with 800 acres of irrigated cropland under center pivot sprinklers and 500 dryland acres used for wheat grazing and hay production. "Cactus Feedyard's environment-friendly approach to doing business typically has several benefits-not the least of which is positive financial returns," says Feedyard Manager Larry Lindahl. "The environmental practices we have implemented not only realize hard savings in electricity and water usage, but return a plus sign to the operation's bottom line in many other ways as well. This ethic of recycling, reusing and conserving not only increases our efficiency, but enhances soil productivity, environmental health and our employees' pride in their work." Environmental stewardship means being a responsible steward of all resources, not just the warm and fuzzy ones. That makes the feedmill a key place where stewardship practices are important because the feedmill uses a significant amount of electricity and natural gas. "We installed variable frequency drives on the airlifts, which allows us to use only the amount of energy needed to move the flaked grain being produced and no more," Lindahl says. "In addition, we installed energy-efficient burners on the boilers, which results in a 10% to 15% savings in natural gas consumption." The feedyard also takes advantage of a unique TCFA service that many feedyards in Cattle Feeding Country have found helpful. Working in cooperation with Utility Engineering of Amarillo, TCFA conducts an infrared inspection of the feedmill, allowing the feedyard to pinpoint bearings, fuse boxes, electrical junctions and other areas where inefficient electrical use may occur. "Not only does this allow us to operate the feedmill at peak efficiency and not waste energy," Lindahl explains, "but it often prevents breakdowns." While favorable weather and climate are two major factors that attracted cattle feeding to the TCFA area, the Texas Panhandle can, from time to time, present challenges. "When it's dry and dusty, we'll use a temporary electrical cross fence along the back of the pens to reduce the square footage and help keep the pens moist," says Dave Venhaus, Cactus environmental director. "If necessary, we have two 6,000-gallon tankers that can spray water on the pens to dampen the surface and cut dust." Over the years, Cactus Feedyard has planted several thousand trees around the perimeter of the yard, and Lindahl is proud of the aesthetic and functional benefits they provide. "The trees act as a windbreak, reducing the amount of wind that sweeps across the yard. This helps cut dust and odor plus making things more comfortable for the cattle and employees." Cactus Feedyard harvests manure after every turn of cattle and enjoys strong demand for the product as an organic fertilizer. Manure is mounded in the pens during the year and then, when seasonal demand dictates, is hauled directly from the pens and spread on neighboring farms. Those neighbors then have a willing and ready customer for the feedgrain they produce. While some manure is composted, most is utilized by neighbors immediately after harvest. "Demand is so great that not only can we recycle all the manure we produce, we could sell more if we had it," Venhaus says. Water is another resource that is reused, recycled and conserved at every opportunity. "We have a system of six retention ponds that are all connected with underground pipes," Lindahl says. "And each retention pond has a floating pump. This gives us the flexibility to actively manage the water levels in each retention pond." The water is pumped to the feedyard's center pivots and used for irrigation. "To achieve crop nutrient objectives, we mix the effluent roughly in a 1/3:2/3 ratio with fresh water," Venhaus says. "This allows us to greatly reduce and sometimes eliminate the need for commercial fertilizer on our crops. Plus, we conserve about 233 acre-feet of fresh water every year. That's about 76 million gallons of groundwater saved." Water is a valuable resource and to ensure they are using it as wisely as possible, Cactus Feedyard installed variable frequency drives (VFD) on its water wells. "Each VFD monitors water pressure using pressure sensors and adjusts the pump speed to pump only the amount of water needed to maintain adequate pressure," Lindahl says. "This, combined with efficient water troughs for cattle that use valves to provide drinking water on demand, means we only pump the water that we need. None is wasted. And since we installed the VFDs, we've realized a 13% annual savings on pumping costs." The retention ponds, as well as the cropland surrounding the feedyard, provide habitat for both resident and migratory wildlife. "The Panhandle is a major wintering area for millions of ducks and geese, as well as a resting and staging ground for numerous other migratory birds, such as eagles, that come through each spring and fall," Venhaus says. "Our retention ponds provide important habitat for these birds. In addition, numerous resident species such as pheasants, song birds, hawks, owls, rabbits and raccoons, find homes in and around the windbreak trees and the vegetation that grows around some of the retention ponds." Cactus Feedyard has long known that a good environmental ethic also makes good business sense. But it pays its way in other respects, too, Lindahl says. "Groups, from local school kids to international meat buyers, have visited Cactus Feedyard. Every group learns that a business ethic and an environmental ethic are often one and the same thing. When they leave, they take with them a piece of our philosophy and a visual image of a clean, well-maintained, efficiently-operated and environmentally-friendly feedyard." That philosophy works close to home, too. "We realize we have an obligation to be good corporate citizens in every community where we have a feedyard," Lindahl says. "And we feel our employees are the best ambassadors we have in the local community. We feel that providing our employees with a place to work-that they're proud of-has far-reaching benefits. A strong environmental ethic does more than just help ensure a clean environment-it provides employee benefits that cause the ripples of our environmental ethic to spread far beyond the feedyard." Editor's Note--Burt Rutherford is TCFA communications director |
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Amarillo,
Texas U.S.A. 79106