A Baltic, South Dakota dairy producer is positioning for climate change policy by installing methane digesters at his dairies to lower their carbon footprint. Lynn Boadwine owns Boadwine Farms and three other operations with a total of 10,000 cows. Methane digesters are currently being built at his operations to turn the manure from those cows into a renewable energy source.
He says regardless of political affiliation, there is a global push to move to carbon neutral production of food to preserve the environment. Boadwine says this can be an opportunity for agriculture and farmers need to get in on the ground floor of the climate change discussion.
Boadwine says many farmers also want to know if they can make a profit by lowering methane or greenhouse gas levels on their farm. He thinks there is, but it takes some upfront investment.
Earth Day is a great time to highlight the efforts Boadwine and other farmers are doing to be more sustainable.