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How to Grow Lunch from Fish Waste - Aquaponics & Other Agricultural Innovations

Oct 24, 2016 11:44 am | Oldman Watershed Council

Did you know that at Lethbridge College, they are growing veggies galore from fish waste?! These and other

amazing ideas were presented to us on a fabulous tour. Read On ...

Editor's Note: Many thanks to OWC's Taren Hager for this detailed reporting. Great job!

On October 5, 2016, the OWC attended the 2016 Sustainable Agriculture Tour hosted by the Lethbridge County.

This tour, organized by Dwayne Rogness, Extension Specialist with the county, is an information tour that visited

five places that are testing and promoting Sustainable Agriculture Beneficial Management Practices (BMPs).

The first stop was at the Lethbridge College Aquaculture Centre and Greenhouse where we met with Dr.

Nick Savidov and Dr. John Derksen. Dr. Savidov started explaining to us what aquaponics is and what this bright

pink light up fish aquariums was.

Aquaponics is a system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals

supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn filter and clean the water.

In these systems, it is important to separate the solid wastes from the fish and plants to reduce organic build-up.

Sludge build-up in these environments is not ideal and only works in natural systems with soils. The system here

is 98% efficient with recirculating water throughout the system and couldn’t be done without plants filtering the

water. Plants have a key role in this system; they take up minerals and nutrients from the water. Clean, clear

water is important for the entire aquaponics system to work properly.

A small-scale model of the aquaponics system at the Lethbridge College Aquaculture Centre.

“The most important component of aquaponics is to keep the fish and plants happy and thriving.” – Dr. Savidov.

The college greenhouse uses recirculated water from the aquaponics to help grow their plants. Here you will find

the Lethbridge College students growing plants such as microgreens, chinese veggies, tomatoes, cucumbers

and herbs. Rockwool is used as a growing medium, as opposed to soil. For this reason, the plants can’t be

considered “organically grown” even though they very much are grown organically. The greenhouse

operations are proud to be chemical-free. Whenever there is a need to treat the plants - for instance if they have

an aphid infestation - they use alternative methods such as biocontrol >wasps< to rid of the problem. Who said

wasps were useless?!

Dr. Derksen explained that they have been working to get the federal policy changed on what conditions

produce are considered to be organically grown and that it should not be limited to just plants grown in

soil without chemicals.

Students have been conducting research on nutrients in the plants and have found that nutrients levels in the

plants grown by aquaponics are higher than those plants grown through hydroponics. They tested the difference

between growing vegetables under cooler conditions with rainbow trout vs. warmer conditions with rainbow trout

and found that cooler conditions produced better tasting lettuce. The greenhouse grows veggies for research.

for the college’s culinary program and also for local restaurants to use (Plum, Firestone, Mocha Cabana,

Earls). So, next time you are out eating at one of these local establishments, take the time to think about where

the veggies came from!

Tomatoes being grown the the greenhouse at the Lethbridge College.

Across the street from the Aquaponics Centre is Alberta Agriculture’s Farm Stewardship Centre. Government of

Alberta employees had displays set up of their current and upcoming BMP (Beneficial Management Practices)

projects.

1. Hach Water Monitoring Device – Ken Perl, Lethbridge College

The Hach Water Monitoring Kit is perfect for individual producers, feedlot operators, ranchers or for anyone who

perhaps has to do a little water testing or even soil testing as part of their operations. It is most ideal for

producers who have to deal with nutrient management.

This new device from Hach is portable and has the ability to test water quality on site rather than sending

samples to the lab for analysis each time you need it. However, that doesn’t mean this device replaces the lab

completely. Testing with this device will give you an idea of water or soil quality thresholds and help you make

the best decision on how to proceed with operations (i.e. applying manure to fields).

Producers should still be sending 1 out of 10 samples to the lab for more accurate analysis. The Hach

device sells for about $2000 and has the ability to test about 20 different elements including dissolved oxygen,

pH, and nutrients. In southern Alberta, excessive nutrients returning to the river is always a concern and

using the device to better manage that excess in nutrients might not be a bad idea!

2. Rolled Compacted Concrete – Deb Werk and Cody Metheral, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

A project is underway by Alberta Agriculture at a commercial feedlot operation in southern Alberta where

traditional clay floor pens have been replaced by RCC (Rolled Compacted Concrete) floors. The purpose is to

assess the impacts of raising feedlot cattle on RCC floor pens vs traditional clay floor pens. Other specific

objectives of the project are to assess:

• Social Impacts - cattle health and welfare;

• Environmental Impacts - water runoff volume and water quality;

• Air – ammonia emissions;

• Climate Change – greenhouse gas emissions;

• Soil – seepage and sub-surface soil quality;

• Manure – volume at cleanout and quality;

• Technological Impacts – RCC strength, thickness, durability and mobility;

• Economic Impacts – cattle average daily gain and tag scores, manure costs, clay handling costs and pen floor,

RCC construction and maintenance costs.

The project continues until 2019, initial results show that the product performs well but is on the costly side,

however, it remains cheaper than traditional concrete. Research being done on monitoring emissions from

cattle in the RCC pens vs clay pens. They are testing for CO2, CH4 and N20. A veterinarian is looking at

changes in livestock health. The government is involved, looking at water quality. Currently, RCC pens are not

funded under the Growing Forward 2 program, but they hope that RCC pens will be included under Growing

Forward 3.

3. Solar Water Troughs and Alert Systems – Ken Janzen, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

There was a lot of interest recently in this subject on a guest blogpost we featured by Quentin Stevick. Solar

powered watering troughs have been promoted for years as a BMP that is a dependable, alternate method of

watering livestock. Along with the purpose of supplying clean water to livestock, troughs also limit their access to

water bodies and therefore protect riparian areas and reduce their impacts on water quality.

While some producers love the systems, others are weary of the reliability of the system especially during winter

conditions. Other issues can arise like wildlife impacts to the equipment (i.e. critters chewing wires) that also

impacts the functionality of the troughs.

Alberta Agriculture has developed and tested 3 different alert systems that can be integrated into the systems

and add peace of mind when using troughs to water your livestock. The first alert and the cheapest option

($300) is the beacon light. When the system experiences an alarm condition, the beacon light will flash, alerting

the producer. The disadvantage to the beacon light is line of site.

The second alert system is the satellite alert which is in the middle range for pricing ($1500-2000) and

requires a smart phone to be effective. It sends an email when the system experiences an alarm condition. It is

simple to set up but does have monthly contract charges ($15-$35).

The third system is the cellular alert which also requires a cell phone. It will send a text message when the

watering system has an alarm condition. The cellular system has an easy to use interface with lots of user

controls to customize settings. However, this system is very expensive ($6000), has more features than most

producers would need and is limited to cellular service areas. It also has high power requirements and monthly

cellular contract charges. The cellular and satellite alerts are available for funding under the Growing

Forward 2 program, the beacon light is not.

Beacon light on the water trough display unit.

4. Phosphorus Filter Project – Lynda Miedema, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Lynda, who is the Nutrient

Management Specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry (AF) provided this brief summary of a very

interesting project beginning in 2017 that could prove very useful in southern Alberta for removing phosphorus

from surface water, if the results are positive.

_“We have partnered in collaboration with Warner County and Oklahoma State University (OSU) and have

initiated a research project to evaluate the effectiveness of a non-point source filtration system for the removal of

dissolved phosphorus from surface water run-off. OSU has been researching and testing the run-off filtration

system for the past ten years, as well as testing various filter media (industrial by-products and manufactured

products).

Their studies have included lab scale as well as field scale filters in agricultural and industrial settings which have

received Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval. OSU has developed an online software tool for filter

design, and they will be working with AF engineering and agronomic staff to develop a field scale filter for

research and demonstration in Alberta. The filter will be monitored for effectiveness of phosphorus removal under

Alberta conditions while serving as a demonstration site in Warner County.

If successful, the filter can be implemented as an agricultural beneficial management practice for removing

phosphorus from surface water run-off for improved water quality.”_

5. On-farm Energy Management Program - Keri McPhee, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry Growing

Forward 2 is government funded and provides 27 different programs and services; some of the programs are

already at maximum capacity or have been cancelled.

The On-Farm Energy Program shares the costs on improving energy efficiency through upgrading lighting, vent

fans and furnaces, etc. on Alberta farms. This enables producers to conserve energy, reduce carbon emissions

and reduce their environmental footprint. The program addresses three important industry priorities:

a) Increased industry competitiveness.

b) Improved environmental stewardship.

c) Improved energy management.

For most items, the program covers 50% of eligible costs, to a maximum of $50,000. Some items are funded on

a square-footage or formula basis. For more information on this program or other Growing Forward 2 programs

visit www.growingforward.alberta.ca.

6. Agro-climatic Information Service (ACIS)- Tom O-Reilley, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

ACIS is home to a wide range of interactive tools that can help those in the agriculture industry or the general

public who are dependent on weather, better understand Alberta’s weather and climate. Their service allows you

to view:

a. Radar imagery and forecasts from Environment Canada.

b. Current conditions from more than 350 weather stations.

c. Maps of temperature, precipitation and more.

d. Precipitation records at crop insurance weather stations.

Example of what a weather station looks like.

Weather stations are very helpful for those in the agriculture industry in southern Alberta. They show current

conditions at the nearest station to you, 21 day hourly graphs, zoom to any time period, track precipitation

accumulations (e.g. we received approximately 260mm of rain from May-Sept in 2016), temperature trends and

wind speeds. Some other useful ACIS features are using the weather stations for crop insurance purposes,

finding stations that best represent that hail storm that happened on your field could mean all the difference in the

world. They are trying to ensure that there are weather stations at least 20km from all farm operations for

insurance purposes. Variables such as precipitation and temperature can be used to analyze how such variables

may have impacted your yields. You can also check out snow pack development over winter to see how things

are looking for the next seeding season! There are many implications ACIS provides to users.. check out the

website at www.weatherdata.ca.

Lunch was provided to us buffet style from the Lethbridge College and their culinary program students. The food

was top notch! Thank you very much Lethbridge College. Our own Communications Specialist Anna Garleff

entertained the mostly student crowd with a few of the OWC films and asked some trivia about watersheds and

messaging in the films.

After our bellies were stuffed with delicious food, we headed out into the cold to go check out some manure

composting projects, go figure! Ben Thomas of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is testing a few different

methods in composting manure. The first project is composting manure vs. basic stock piling of manure and the

persistence of compounds in-situ. Composting means turning the manure and allowing it to heat up and

decompose. Whereas stock piling is just that, piling and leaving the manure there to sit, with no extra attention.

Emission monitoring is also being done. An experimental drug was given to a portion of cows that reduces the

amount of methane emissions that cattle produce. Preliminary results show that it has reduced cattle methane

emissions by 60%. Results of the composting manure are not known yet but they expect to have better results of

the composted manure. Composting also reduces the mass & volume of the manure, making transport and

application more economical to producers.

Piles of composting manure at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada facility.

Dr. Frank Larney, Soil Conservation Scientist with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada has been composting feedlot

manure for ~20 years. They have about 1000-1500 head of cattle at the feedlot on site.

The experiment he is conducting is a trial looking at the fate of hormone residues in manure after composting. In

particular, MGA (administered through feed) and TBA (administered through ear) given to cattle in Canada to

increase feed efficiency. The concern is that these hormones might be transported outside of the feedlots

through surface water into our rivers and from there, being ingested by fish, wildlife and humans. The samples

are composted over 90 days, during which time they’re turned and sampled 7-8 times.

Composting temperatures get up to 70°C in which these conditions kills parasites, microorganisms, weed seeds

and allows the breakdown of other elements. Manure samples are sent to University of Saskatchewan for

analysis. Due to the project in the very early stages, they have no results yet however, the expectations are to

see a decrease in the amount of residual hormones found in the composted manure.

At the final stop we met up with Cody Metheral , CFO Extension Specialist with Alberta Agriculture. He

talked about how many feedlot operators don’t think much about catch basin drainage and maintenance and how

they often misgauge their catch basin capacity. The demofarm demonstration had machinery that is useful for

those with feedlot operations, in particular those with catch basins. The Growing Forward 2 funding (~$150,000)

invested in catch basin drainage equipment that consists of 3 units:

1. Pumping unit on tractor, 400 gal/min (~$20,000)

2. Cadman feeder hose and caddy, with ¾ mile lay-flat feeder hose (~$25,000 with cart)

3. Sprinkler and gun cart (~$100,000)

The catch basin draining unit in operation at the Ag Research Demofarm.

A catch basin draining program began this year through Alberta Agriculture, providing the use of the draining

system free of charge to feedlot operators to drain their catch basins and have the benefit of using that nutrient

rich water to irrigate a pasture or field if suitable.

"We are doing catch basin water testing and the results will be used to better understand nutrient concentration

and changes during pumping. Results are shared with the producer and will hopefully be part of their future

pumping strategies. We are seeing a range of nutrient concentrations, that seem to reflect previous emptying

activities and if solids have accumulated in the bottom of the catch basin. More information will be available this

fall." Cody explains.

Newer basins with fewer solids often have lower nutrient levels, while for older basins with heavy solids on the

bottom; the water often comes out brown-black in color and with higher nutrients.

Alberta Agriculture employees will come set up the system on your property for 1 week at a time and

provide an operator to run the equipment.. for more information please contact Cody Metheral at (403)

381-5885 or cody.metheral@gov.ab.ca.

Thanks to Dwayne Rogness and Lethbridge County for putting on such a informative tour! We look

forward to the next one!

Read More

City will Participate in Water Charter

Oct 21, 2016 10:19 am | Oldman Watershed Council

Editors Note: We are very pleased to share this news article that was published October 20, 2016 in the

Lethbridge Herald. It concerns one of our new initiatives - a Water Charter for Southern Alberta. Happy Reading!

By Melissa Villeneuve, Lethbridge Herald

mvilleneuve@lethbridgeherald.com

The United Nations recognizes access to safe and clean drinking water as a basic human right and necessary to

the full enjoyment of life. In southern Alberta, the Oldman Watershed Council hopes to unite municipalities and

organizations to protect the local water supply.

On Monday, Lethbridge City Council agreed to add their name to a Southern Alberta Water Charter proposed by

the OWC. Signing the charter pledges action and commitment to the betterment of the health of the Oldman

watershed.

OWC representatives also presented council with copies of three videos created to educate, inspire and motivate

the community in regards to environmental responsibility with local water. Council provided $5,000 towards the

film project. “These three videos were done so the OWC can get its message out about municipal watershed

management health, in collaboration with the City of Lethbridge,” said Anna Garleff, OWC’s communications

specialist.

The videos cover the science of watershed management, a kids video with tips and tricks on becoming a better

water steward and a public video filmed with a GoPro camera. Garleff said they were encouraged council

endorsed the charter.

One of the videos features Anna Garleff, OWC Communications Specialist, and Doug Kaupp, City of Lethbridge

General Manager of Water and Wastewater, discussing the science behind Lethbridge's innovative wastewater

treatment plant.

“Those guys are phenomenal. They stepped up to the plate for the film project immediately and became

collaborative partners,” she said. “But it’s not enough to make the videos. We have to follow through to make

sure they get used, that they get seen, and in order to do that, that’s why we’re also following up with a water

charter.”

The OWC will present their water charter proposal to county reeves and mayors on Nov. 4. Garleff hopes to

gather endorsement of the charter from “every municipality and county as well.”

Southern Alberta Water Charter activities will run from May through September 2017, with an awards celebration

at the end.

To learn more and view the videos, there will be a special SACPA session from 7-9 p.m. on Nov. 23 in the

Lethbridge Public Library Theatre Gallery. The videos will also be uploaded soon to the website at

oldmanwatershed.ca.

Follow @MelissaVHerald on Twitter

http://lethbridgeherald.com/news/lethbridge-news/2016/10/20/city-signs-water-charter/

Read More

More to read:

Watershed Legacy Program in the Porcupine Hills

PNWER: “The Gold Standard of US - Canada Relations”

Riparian Restoration Event!

Water Monitoring - What's in it for you?

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Visit us at: www.oldmanwatershed.ca

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