Dairy farmers at a floating farm in Rotterdam may soon be faced with an unusual question: will my cows get seasick?
The farm, located in the center of Rotterdam’s Merwehaven harbor, is expected to house about 40 cows that will be milked by robots.
“It’s really re-thinking a farm,” says the architect, Klaas van der Molen. “Normally a farm is not on the water.”
He was tasked with the project by Dutch property developers, Beladon, who want to help the city produce food more sustainably.
Beladon hopes to have the first cows on board before the end of the year, and aims to officially open to the public in March 2019.
A City Farm
One of the aims of the floating farm, which is located in a city harbor that once imported fruit from Europe, is to bring food production back into the area.
The farm plans to produce 800 liters of milk a day, as well as yogurt and cheese to sell to local businesses.
The majority of the cows feed, about 80 percent, will come from leftover produce from local city businesses that would otherwise be wasted. The remaining fodder will be transported by electric cars from a field just outside Rotterdam.
Van der Molen says the floating farm is the start of transforming the now empty harbor into an attractive water site, like it used to be, before changes in shipping and distribution methods.
“It’s a chance to make it really lively as it was before, because harbors were super-active,” he said.
He predicts that in the next 10 to 15 years, property developers will buy up parts of the harbor to build apartment blocks, and the farm will be part of that urbanization.
And the future vision is to not just have cows, but chickens too.
Transport Issue
The 2.6 million euro ($3 million) project is the brainchild of Peter van Wingerden, a partner at Beladon, who came up with the concept in 2012 after witnessing the devastation of Hurricane Sandy while on a trip to New York.
“[Peter] was in New York for a project,” said his wife, Minke, who left her job two years ago to work full-time on the floating farm.
“Manhattan was completely flooded. Food trucks come in and out to bring food to Manhattan and New York City. After two days there was no fresh food on the shelves anymore,” she said. “He realised if something like a flooding happens, there’s a big issue of transport. So why not look at opportunities at fresh food in or near the city?
“Then you look at the world map, most cities are situated in the water, so why not use the water?”
The project is privately funded by Minke and her husband, partners at Beladon, as well as by local Dutch businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Building
Planned with galvanized steel and floating concrete, the building has three levels with the lowest level, which will mainly be used for storage, submerged three meters into the water.
Cows can roam freely on the top floor and will be shaded from the sunlight with artificial trees and a pergola, and a robot will clean up their manure. The cows can choose to potter over a bridge to graze on a field on the land.
The ground level is the production zone for making milk and yogurt, and for recycling the manure. Visitors can see the food production process for themselves, as the walls are made of glass.
In line with regulations, no-one is building or living within a 109-yard circumference of the farm, so odor shouldn’t be an issue.
“The robot will take the manure away very quickly. It will not smell so much. We have permits to make this happen in the city,” said Minke.
From The Epoch Times
