FREE QUOTE - CALL 920-468-5927 | REVIEWS

Menu
HART logo
  • Products
    • Filling
      • Automatic Lidding
      • Auto-Pouch Assembly Equipment
      • PFC-10 Spouted Pouch Filler
      • HCC Filling Line
      • HPC Filling Line
      • SA-12 Filler
      • Bulk Filling
    • Slice on Slice (SOS)
      • Casting Line
      • 3 x 12 Wrapper
      • 2-, 3-, & 4- Stage Stackers
      • 20-ESW IWS Extruder
      • Servo Cutoff
      • Ribbon Loaf AutoHarp Infeed
      • In-Line & Overhead AutoHarps
    • Cutting
      • Natural Cheese Cutters
      • Mozzarella Log Slicer
      • Cutting & Elevating Conveyors
      • Lane Diverter
      • Block / Two-Stage Cutters
      • Vertical Cutters
      • Wheel Cutters
        • Semi-Automatic Wheel Cutters
        • Automatic Wheel Cutters
        • Pneumatic Wheel Cutters
      • 640 Block / 550 Barrel Cutters
        • 640 AL Cutters
        • 640 HC Cutters
        • 640 Pneumatic Cutters
      • Slab Cutters
      • Ultrasonic Bar Cutters
      • Exact Weight Cutters
      • Dicer
    • Conveyance / Robotics & Product Handling
      • Case Packing
      • Cutting & Elevating Conveyors
      • Lane Diverter
      • Debox & Defoiling
      • Flex Pickers
      • Robotic Palletizing
      • Automated Product Loading
      • Lidding
      • Cheese Wheel Salting, Spicing & Washing
    • Shred Line
      • Retail Cheese Shred Lines
      • Food Service Shred Lines
      • Cutting & Elevating Conveyors
      • Lane Diverter
      • Block / Two-Stage Cutters
      • Slab Cutter
      • 640 HC Cutter
  • Product Videos
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Upcoming Events
    • History
  • Industry News
  • Contact Us
    • Directions & Nearby Hotels
    • Employment
    • Request Information
  • Store
  • Get a FREE Quote
Close Menu
Home > Industry News & Events from HART > News > ‘Floating Farm’ Creates Local Dairy for Cities
rotterdam, netherlands night time view of skyscrapers..
September 11, 2019

‘Floating Farm’ Creates Local Dairy for Cities

News

A small dairy farm that floats on waterways is being tested in the Netherlands as a way to bring animal products closer to the cities and save space. Dutch businesswoman Minke van Wingerden looks on proudly as one of her 32 brown-and-white cows makes a pit stop at an automated milking station on an unusual farm: a platform located on one of the waterways in Rotterdam port.

Dairy Floating Farm

Ms. Van Wingerden is one of the developers of the “Floating Farm,” testing whether small-scale, sustainable dairy farming is feasible in the heart of one of the world’s most urban, industrial areas – far away from rolling green fields of a traditional agribusiness.

“This idea started in 2012, my partner Peter he was involved in a project in New York and then Hurricane Sandy hit New York very badly, so it was flooded and after two days there was no fresh food on the shelves anymore because the logistic hub was also flooded,” she said.

“So then we realized, ‘why not produce fresh food healthy food on the water close to the city?’, and that’s where the idea came up.”

The cows, seemingly unperturbed by their futuristic setting on the fringe of Europe’s largest and busiest port, can rest on the upper level of the structure or head to a feeding station for a mix of hay, grass clippings, and beer by-products. Milk and manure processing facilities are located on the lower deck, as well as the visitors’ entrance and store. A quayside pasture gives the animals the chance to be on dry land. The structure’s roof is used to collect rainwater. Power for the farm comes from a solar panel array floating nearby.

“The amount of arable land is decreasing and the world population is growing so how can we produce enough healthy food in the future?” Ms. Van Wingerden said. “Seventy percent of the world is water so why not use the water to produce fresh healthy food near to the consumers?”

Close to the town of Schiedam, the farm is located in one channel of the “Merwehaven,” a harbor within the sprawling 65 square mile port, which handles containers ships from all over the world.

Latest Dairy Tech

The whole farm site is kitted out with the latest in dairy tech such as an automated feeding system, manure-scooping robots, self-serve cleaning stations, and the smartphone app on-site farmer Albert Boersen uses to monitor his cows.

“We try to be as circular as can be and it’s still a [matter of] research how we can find out more circles in this farm,” Ms. Van Wingerden says.

As part of its aim to be self-sustainable, the farm already has a manure separator used to separate dry material from urine, with the dry part used as bedding for the cows and the urine turned into organic fertilizer.

It sells some bottles of raw milk on-site to visitors, while the rest is pasteurized and turned into milk or yogurt. It is sold to customers who live nearby via online grocer, Picnic, known for its small, electric delivery vans.

Keep up to date on current industry news here.

Source: csmonitor.com

Eight Cheese Trends to Watch in 2019 Higher Cheese Prices and Rising Milk Prices

Related Posts

COVID Vaccines

News

Could the COVID Vaccines Hurt the Cheese Industry

Canada Flag

News

IDFA Applauds TRQ Consultations with Canada

Networking

News

Networking For The FPSA Conference Is Back On!

Back To Top

Who We Are

HART Design & Manufacturing is a global leader in the design and construction of standard and customized stainless steel, servo-controlled equipment for use in the food and dairy industry, with an emphasis on process and natural cheese production lines.

Our 40,000 square feet of integrated production facilities, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin, allow us to provide our customers with superior design and engineering, machining, welding, fabricating, mechanical and electrical assembly, testing and programming, all under one roof!

HART Design & Manufacturing uses proven technologies coupled with continual innovation to produce robust, reliable equipment to satisfy our clients’ specific processing or packaging requirements.

HARTHART
HART Design & Manufacturing, Inc.
1940 Radisson Street
Green Bay, WI 54302
920-468-5927
Info@HartDesign.com
Reviews

Disclaimer & Intellectual Property Statement

Industry & Company News

  • Could the COVID Vaccines Hurt the Cheese Industry January 1, 2021
  • IDFA Applauds TRQ Consultations with Canada January 1, 2021
  • Networking For The FPSA Conference Is Back On! January 1, 2021

Let’s Keep in Touch

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to discover the latest & greatest videos, news and deals!

© HART Design & Manufacturing, Inc. 2021
Website Design, Development, SEO, & Hosting by The BLU Group - Advertising & Marketing