We can do all this on solar energy: Dairy farmer Julian Beiga will harness sun’s energy for freshwater

Instead of draining freshwater and energy from the local community, this Farmers’ Own dairy farmer will go off-the-grid while reducing his carbon footprint.

An innovative dairy farmer in the Manning Valley hopes his steps toward a greener future will inspire others in the industry to make the most of their natural resources.

Julian Biega – who has been farming on Mambo Island on NSW’s Manning River for 32 years – will use a $100,000 grant from the Woolworths Dairy Innovation Fund to install a new solar-powered desalination system to help meet his farm’s high daily water and energy demands without draining community resources.

“We use a lot of water on our farm, all dairy farmers do,” Mr Biega, who supplies Woolworths with milk for its Farmers’ Own range, said.

“We use 6000L just to hose manure off the yard each day – I have to do it by law because to have a clean yard so the cows don’t slip over, so they don’t contract things like mastitis.”

While freshwater supply from the region can be in short demand during periods of drought, the farm positioned at the mouth of the Manning River has access to a lot of salt water.

“Desalination is the most inefficient way of burning energy because it takes a huge amount to get the water out, to separate the salt,” Mr Biega said.

“So I did a lot of research on the energy we could use to run this system and realised we can do all this on solar energy.”

Using the money from the grant, Mr Biega ordered a “plug and play system” from Solar Water Solutions that when installed in January, will enable him to harvest 6000L of freshwater in daylight hours.

Mr Biega plans to collect and recycle the water used for cleaning the yard to use in his irrigation systems as a natural fertiliser.

“From that, I can grow more grass, the cows will eat the grass and turn it into of milk and I’m not being a burden to the community and I’m not competing for natural, valuable resources,” he said.

The plant will compliment Mr Biega’s recent upgrades to his dairy, including solar panels and LED lighting to reduce his carbon footprint.

Woolworths dairy merchandise manager Will Herron said: “The practicality and ingenuity of Julian’s project perfectly captures what our Dairy Innovation Fund is all about.

“He’s bringing in technology that will create a better future for his farm, boosting drought resilience and sustainability.”

The Dairy Innovation Fund will give away $5 million in grants to dairy farmers of three years to boost efficiency, innovation and seasonal resilience on Australian farms.

More than $2 million in funding was awarded to 24 Australian dairy farmers in the inaugural round of the grants this year.

Farmers have until February 20 to apply for the next round.

Source: Vanessa Croll, News Corp Australia Network, 13 December 2021