#circular farming

Here at Gamble Creek Farms in Parrish, Florida, we’ve spent more than a decade experimenting with regenerative and circular practices. An agricultural “circular system” is a farming method that reuses resources, like turning food scraps into compost or recycling rainwater to irrigate fields. By doing this, it ensures nothing is wasted, mimicking our environment’s natural systems.

Circular systems can be the difference between red ink and resilience. We’ve seen firsthand how composting reduces excess waste while improving soil fertility, thus creating less of a need for tilling. Healthier soil holds more water and nutrients, cutting input costs for fertilizers and irrigation. Likewise, more resilient plants can withstand pests and disease, lowering chemical inputs that burden both our farm and waterways. 

In Hoa Vang commune, Nguyen Thi Nhinh, 38, is widely recognized as an exemplary farmer. Her circular agriculture model not only provides stable income but also inspires many local households.

Previously, Nhinh worked as a factory worker with a modest salary that barely covered living expenses. Responding to the call for rural economic development, she ventured into agriculture.

Starting with 8 breeding goats and over 100 red-flesh dragon fruit plants supported by the local government, she borrowed VND370 million from a bank and the village Women’s Union to expand production on her family’s unproductive acacia land.

“The land was full of rocks and uninhabited, so I had to improve it bit by bit. Lacking farming and husbandry experience, my crops and animals often got sick, resulting in low economic returns,” Nhinh recalled.

As her model stabilized, she sought new directions to adapt to market fluctuations, ensuring sustainable development.

Now she uses cow and goat manure to raise earthworms in a 100 sq m area with 12 built tanks (each 5 sq m). With this model, she harvests earthworms year-round in four cycles, each tank yielding an average of 10 kg of worms and 400 kg of organic fertilizer.

What began as an experiment in reusing discarded bottles has evolved into a community-driven initiative that reimagines waste as infrastructure and farming as a tool for empowerment. The project's impact now stretches far beyond its towers of two-liter bottles, becoming a blueprint for resilience, youth engagement, and circular design in action.

"At first, we thought we were just building a food system. Instead, we discovered we were sparking a conversation about climate, entrepreneurship, and hope," says Phathisani Vundla, founder of Zambezi Eco Sprouts in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

"When you are walking around collecting bottles and telling people you're going to build a vertical farm, they ask: Can it really grow?" Vundla recalls.

Those doubts gradually turned into curiosity. Once the first aeroponic towers began producing healthy greens, neighbors started showing up to see the results for themselves. Some even began collecting bottles to donate to the project. "People saw proof that something good could come from what we throw away," he says. "It shifted how they looked at waste and how they looked at possibility."

Japanese equipment giant Kubota has pulled the wraps off a world’s first. The new, Autonomous Fuel Cell Tractor packs electric drive motors powered by a hydrogen fuel cell — one that can get topped off with hydrogen made from farm waste!

“The concept behind this model is to simultaneously achieve environmental sustainability, operational efficiency, and labor saving,” reads the official press copy. “Since only water is discharged during operation, it is environmentally friendly, and is also designed for operation without operators onboard via autonomous driving and remote control.”

The Philippines has unveiled its first-ever Rice Straw Bioenergy Hub in Pila, Laguna — a milestone in sustainable agriculture that turns rice farming waste into valuable resources like clean energy, biochar, and soil-enriching amendments.

During the launch, participants witnessed live demonstrations of pioneering machines, including:

Straw Traktor® – a world-first 3-in-1 machine that collects straw even in wet conditions while spreading soil amendments and preparing land.

Takavator™ (by Takachar) – a portable biochar converter that improves soil health and opens access to carbon credit opportunities.

Koolmill – an energy-efficient rice mill that uses up to 90 percent less power and minimizes grain breakage.

Biogas Production System – a solution that turns low-quality rice straw into renewable energy for rural communities.

Pilot sites have already seen farmers improve their income, renovate homes, and fund their children’s education.

Meat or vegan? It doesn't have to be that black or white. An ambitious pig farm in Pittem shows that livestock farming in Flanders can be viable and sustainable.

We are in a meadow in Pittem, surrounded by a group of exuberant pigs that resemble wild boars and are feasting on the grass, grunting loudly. In all respects it is an alienating experience. There are more pigs than human inhabitants in Flanders. But whoever sees one in the flesh?

The dark giants have pointed ears, a wagging tail and long hair. "This one still looks beautiful in its fur," says Bertjan Olivier, while stroking a sow over the stiff hair. “You can pet them, but you still have to be careful. They have boar blood in their veins. They are wild, stubborn and rebellious – just like their bosses.” He winks.

Belgae

Olivier manages the pig start-up Menapii[1], that breeds ancient pigs. The Menapian pigs come with a good story. Pig breeder Ruben Brabant, who runs a large sow farm on the same site, has always been interested in special breeds. He wanted a Flemish ham that could hang alongside the exquisite serrano and iberico. “For that I needed a pig with a thick layer of bacon and well-veined meat, that grows slowly and has a better taste. And that would be popular with consumers who are sensitive to animal welfare and sustainability.”

At a fair he met archaeologist Wim De Clercq (UGent). The latter said that during excavations in Oudenburg[2] he had discovered skeletons of Celtic pigs that lived as utility animals with the Ancient Belgae. The Menapian pig was a delicacy that the Romans paid extortionate prices for. "That's where the idea arose to reconstruct that primordial pig."

After two years of crossing – a wild boar was used as basis – and experimenting with feeds, pig breeder Brabant, together with researchers from Ghent University, brought to life a pig in 2016 that closely resembles the old Menapian pig. It is robust, roams outdoors, grazes and lives on residual flows such as beet pulp, chaff, beer marc or rapeseed meal. Besides AG-S,[3] the company of Brabant, the well-known butcher Hendrik Dierendonck[4] joined the company. He processes and sells the meat in his shops and restaurant. Every year 1,000 to 1,500 pigs are sold through its own channels.

Thrift animal

But the story doesn't stop here. Brabant takes us to its conventional stables. He has 1,500 sows. That is a mega company by Flemish standards. But the pigs enjoy privileges: they live in groups of 120, roam freely and sleep on straw beds. The stable is large and light. The sows with their piglets also have more space than usual in the farrowing pen. No pietrains[5] here, the popular breed that was bred to give as much meat as possible, but a sturdier English breed.

Brabant, who also builds stables, points to gadgets such as the air conditioning under the floor and the 'toilets', where manure and urine are separated and removed every three days. For example, ammonia (nitrogen) is hardly formed. These pigs also largely live on residual flows. Their CO2 paw print is a lot lower than average.

Olivier and Brabant are bridge builders, looking for ways to reconcile agriculture and nature. Both are bio-engineers, not farm sons. "We have an open mind in the sector," says Olivier, who was snatched away from the research department of the political party N-VA and is a member of the board of directors at the West-Vlaamse Milieufederatie (West Flemish Environmental Federation)[6]. They plead passionately for a different rural Flanders, with mixed landscapes of nature, farmlands and farm roads. With meadows lined with hedges where cows and pigs graze. Where a viable livestock farm has a right to exist.

Vegan good, meat bad? It's not that simple," says Olivier. “The nutrition debate has become bogged down in false contradictions. Livestock farming can also be fair and sustainable if one does it right. A pig is the ideal recycling animal that converts residual flows into useful proteins. So do cows that graze. They have a place in our diet. We are not going to manufacture all our food in a reactor vessel, are we?”

Cut-price meat products

The key question remains: is this model scalable? “Absolutely,” Brabant nods. “Mass production at rock bottom prices is a finite story in Flanders. Unsustainable for the environment and for the farmers who are confronted with a lot of misery. We go against that current, but we don't make losses. We do not dump anonymous meat on the world market, but sell a concept that is in demand.”

That demand remains niche. With the Menapian pigs they are targeting consumers who are looking for value and who are willing to pay for it. Sales are assured thanks to the collaboration with butchers such as Dierendonck. Opening the access to the supermarkets remains a harder type of challenge. Brabant did not find nya buyer in Flanders with his conventional pigs. They entered in contact with to a large German retailer. "There's interest here, until you bring up the price. Then the supermarkets that pretend to be sustainable will also stick to a cut-price meat product.”

This model could become the norm if supermarkets opt for more sustainable meat, Olivier nods. “They proclaim consumers want cheap meat, but the chains must also take responsibility themselves. And this makes that we're not yet arrived at a sustainable approach. The entire European market has to get rid of meat at rock-bottom prices. Cheap imports from outside the EU should be taxed at the borders. This goes against the trade agreements that Europe wishes to conclude with Latin America. There is still a way to go.”

Meaningless regulation drive

And then there is another flaw. The engineers collide with their alternative approach against a wall of rules. For example, the Federal Food Agency[7] does not allow their pigs to go outside for fear of diseases. “The obsession with food safety has gone too far, at the expense of animal welfare,” says Olivier. The Flemish Land Agency[8] also does not allow outdoor runs because of the nitrogen problem. “Whereas we notice that our pigs do not urinate and fatten in the same place. So no ammonia is formed on the meadow.”

This 'meaningless regulation drive' causes frustration. Brabant presents a sketch: a design of the conventional pigsty of the future. For supermarket pigs that partly live outside. Circular, with solar panels and heat recovery. The manure is separated, the solid fraction is reused to raise insects that can be used as proteins in the feed. "Unfortunately, I will never receive an authorisation for this. Certainly not with the new Nitrogen Agreement[9]. Stables should be airtight boxes with filters on the outlet. While those technofixes are a bogus solution, that do not tackle the problems of agriculture thoroughly.”

There is only one option for the Menapian pigs, Olivier says: keep them indoors. "Which we definitely don't plan to do. Only if we switch to organic, we will receive an exception to the nitrogen regulations. But in that case we can no longer feed our animals with residual flows. You will hardly find bio-certified beer marc or rapeseed meal. Organic certified soy does exist. That goes against the philosophy that we want to feed our pigs with waste from the region.”

He sighs. “We hope that we will not be placed in this dilemma. Isn't it absurd that it is the environmental legislation in particular that makes us abandon our circular model?”

Source

Ine Renson: Een Keltisch varken als wissel op de toekomst, in: De Standaard, 23-04-2022; https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20220422_96592097

[1] The Menapii were a Belgic tribe dwelling near the North Sea, around present-day Cassel, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. According to descriptions in such authors as Strabo, Caesar, Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy their territory had stretched northwards to the mouth of the Rhine in the north, but more lastingly it stretched along the west of the Scheldt river.

[2] Oudenburg is renowned for its rich historical past. Eye-catchers are the Roman castellum and St. Peter's Abbey, but the boroughs of Roksem, Ettelgem and Westkerke also have a rich history. There, many early medieval small agricultural settlements came to light along the Oude Bruggeweg, an important arterial road connecting Bruges to Gistel. Because mostly only remnants of this past have been preserved in the subsoil, archeology is of crucial importance to unravel the history of Oudenburg. Since 2005, the city of Oudenburg has had its own archaeologist in order to optimally preserve and manage this past and to ensure that archaeological interventions in the soil run as smoothly as possible. https://ram.oudenburg.be/ram/onderzoek-ontwikkeling/archeologie.aspx

[3] http://www.ag-s.be/service/page/nl/home.php

[4] Dierendonck is a family of butcher craft. https://www.dierendonck.be/pages/filosofie

[5] Piétrain is a Belgian breed of domestic pig. It is native to Wallonia, and takes its name from the village of Piétrain in the municipality of Jodoigne in Walloon Brabant, in northern Wallonia. It first appeared in about 1920, and received recognition as a breed in 1950.  Its origins are not clear; it has been suggested that the farmers of Piétrain may have recognised, and selectively bred for, a genetic mutation causing muscular hypertrophy. From about 1960, the Piétrain was also reared in Germany, principally in Baden-Württemberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen and Schleswig-Holstein; it is used as a sire for cross-breeding. The breed was improved by researchers at the Université de Liège in 2004.

[6] The West Flemish Environmental Federation currently brings together 84 nature and environmental associations, active in West Flanders.

[7] The Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) was founded by the Act of 4 February 2000 and is responsible for the assessment and management of risks that may be harmful to the health of consumers as well as the health of animals and plants. The Agency carries out food safety inspections throughout the food chain. https://www.fasfc.be/about-fasfc

[8] The Vlaamse Landmaatschappij assures water quality by monitoring how much manure farmers use on their land and providing guidance where necessary. We do this within the framework of the manure policy, which we helped to establish. We simultaneously support and encourage farmers to structure their fields and meadows in a more natural way in order to promote biodiversity. https://www.vlm.be/en