Out of everyone in this space, I favor your content and words more so then others. I always feel better about the world and become more motivated everytime you speak of upward spirals. Your work is inspiring. I'm only on rented area right now with limited space but landlord said I can get some sheep on our 7 acres once I get rid of a couple of his cows and begin working on my own upward spiral to try and show my landlord we can heal the land that we have now. Thanks for your stuff Takota.

I love your system and setup. Excited for the next update!

Ha! Years ago when I saw your first videos on duckweed, I began thinking of a skimmer to do it. Being a machinist my whole life I have seen floating type oil skimmers used for coolant purposes and designed something for duckweed very similar to what you are using. Ofc my design was using readily available materials I had on hand and not a commercially designed and produced unit… but nearly identical none the less. Great stuff. Great content. Glad to see you back.

Ever since i got introduced to duckweed as an aquarist i've been amazed at the growth potential of it, its very cool to see it utilized like this!

@Takota Coen: Other thoughts: Have a water jet on the other side of the pump dock aimed away from your pump, with the water outflow stream running parallel to the shore. This will set up a circular water flow dynamic in the pond and should direct more of the surface floating weed into your skimmer. This process would also have the added benefit of pulling nitrate/nitride runoff pollutants out of your pond outflow. The pellets could probably be used to add nitrogen and organic matter to high intensity growing beds or spread in your pasture if you have sufficient production. Good luck. You are onto an excellent idea.

Hey Takota, nice to hear from you. This looks interesting.

@Takota Coen: Consider a solar drying unit/s and a feed pelletizer. Pump into a fine mesh gravity draining barrel/tower then solar dryer, and finally, the pelletizer. Entry-level pelletizers can be had for $700-$1400 USD They come in both Feed pelletizers, and wood pelletizers (Stall and coop bedding, or fuel for pellet stoves). This setup would be a compliment to your Closed loop, sustainable system.

This could be massive for growing onsite chicken and livestock feed. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Love the skimmer!

🤍 Keep us posted on the improvements of collection and preservation of the duck weed! Exciting stuff.

Truly amazing content!! Thankyou.... I would love to spend a few days on your farm and just observe... then maybe have a nice dinner afterwards with a few questions.... again thanks! Why?? you get it.... So pursue the green house idea.... it will only amp up production!

I have a dozen dugouts covered in duckweed all summer, interesting idea. Greetings from western Manitoba

Amazine! Just what I was thinking about! Amazing duckweed prefers to use ammonia before nitrates! & gives lots of protien.

Very exciting information! I can't wait to see how it works out.

Glad to see a some updates, I value your videos more then any of the other ones I keep up on although Verge Permaculture and Canadian Permaculture Legacy are both right up there as well. Yours are more overall practical and always challenging or improving on the norm.

Nice. I will have to keep this in mind as people constantly ask us in our business about duck weed. I have been referring to your videos for a few years. But I like the upgrade.

@Takota Coen: Those overgrown Cattails/reeds.... Mow them, shred them, use directly as bedding, or pelletize them for a variety of uses

Awesome my man, keep up the good work!

Haha great Joe Salatin quote. My buddy always says “a bad plan today is better than a good plan tomorrow”. Not very permaculturee lmao but sometimes true when trying to just get some stuff done.

Awesome use for that machine.

thats a nice plant sewage treatment plant at work... if you had some produce as well you could also use the food waste from fruits and vegetables to produce black soldier larva as another protein source.

Very cool. I'm planning a small high tunnel over a padi field, to grow duckweed. It'll take the runoff from the duck pond, as well as the effluent from a small biogas plant.

Nice innovations. Wonder if the cattail would silage as well. Cupplant (sylphium perfoliatum) has been used for silage in Eastern Europe since at least the 80s and should grow well on your property. Yields like corn and tests protein like alfalfa. Great to see you using abundant unexploited resources of the prairies.

would duckweed work as a green manure to help amend heavy soil?

This is awesome to see in practice. I built one of these out of some puck board and PVC pipe but doesn't work nearly as well as yours does

Brilliant Takota. If it’s easier for you to use handheld than a camera stand, I don’t mind. I’d rather see an educational video from you, then a perfect captured one. 😀 or nothing at all, because you are busy.

Loved the video,, but I would have loved to see a bit more in depth shots of the skimmer!

Hey man, did you ever consider using mob grazing on your pasture? I can see many benefits of your system (especially the turning the effluents into nutrients), but I am wondering how easily that fits with mob grazing (even if you only imagine introducing it).

Feeding fermented weed to your chickens and pigs. They must love you!🤣But yes, having lived the farm life I know all about silage. Another You Tuber was having (and still is) problems with duckweed and so far he's only got the pig to buy in on it. And his respondents said give them time. I like your attitude and thinking.

What an awesome Idea!

Really really appreciate your videos so much. We just got a semi trash pump for 300 at harbor freight and its amazing but its gas lol im sure they have some electric versions

I would like to hear more about fermented duckweed. I'm working on doing hydroponic to grow this in winter

3" pipe press, use simple 1 ton jack, some pipe, welder... press out the water, re-grind the pucks into powder, dry on screens. Fan dry for ???hours. Mix with grasses /seeds/ dried cattails...Pour into a hammer mill to make pellets. Ferments that in the winter.

smart alternative use for an existing tool, dude. that thing would be an insane game changer for utilising duck weed.

This dude is as exciting as watching duck weed grow

Wow looks great, but why not create a flow with a small pump at one end and a sieve at the other end?

very interesting, you may have mentioned it and I may have missed it but do you know the protein content is? and really intrigued by the idea of putting some of it up for feeding, slick setup which will improve with time👍 I live in an area that duckweed is pretty prevalent😳

I did a little experiment with azolla, an aquatic fern much like duck weed, this summer for my chickens. They weren’t really into it. I will try duck weed next time. Great ideas btw.

Really cool !

You could also try ensiling it with the grains, you'll adjust the DM content an ferment the grain at the same time

How did the duckweed do this year? Like your skimmer idea.

Love this content

Greetings, Have you thought about using a ram pump to move your weed/water? I believe you could deepen an area of your pond bottom to place the ram and get enough "head" pressure to energize the pump and force the flow up to your screens, etc..

Would putting a greenhouse over your pond turn the whole thing into a solar still?

what about a pellet machine? drying might be a problem?

Yes.... Ferment duckweed with salt in sauerkraut type fermenting device to feed to chickens and pigs in winter Yes... Use greenhouse over the pond to increase pond temp over winter

Where did you get that skimmer? Any brand?

Great adaptation. However, if you're interested in duckweed that much, especially over the winter, your best bet isn't to put some greenhouse contraption over an irregularly shaped pond, but to move the "pond" into a standard greenhouse. You're talking about hydroponics, basically, and that's easy to do in a greenhouse. You could build it so there are skinners at the ends of the tables, helping to pull the water and duckweed into a collection system. As fast as this stuff seems to grow, I don't think it'd be any problem to get some established and flourishing in a GH. Being able to control the water also means you can add nutrients that aren't available in the natural setting. Maybe boost the protein or calcium or iron, depending on what you find works best. Not only could you run a GH during the winter, but you can keep it running all year long and always know how much food you're producing.

The harbor freight tools , I was talking about a trash pump.

My fishtanks grow a bunch of duckweed all winter long using regular LED lights. Maybe set up some tubs in your barn.

Have you check at harbor freight tools , they had a pump at one time for around $300-$400 US dollars. Not sure if this would work for you but it is probably worth a look. What you are doing sounds great.

Do you use the duckweed for compost, at all? Seems like something that would enrich you compost pile

Fuel vs Feed~ I have a 1/4 acre pond that stays productive year-round. My mission is to use it as input for a Biogas Digester and generate Methane (CH4). It should make a great energy source and be something to consider in your calculations for the cost of operations.

You know I love Machines! Let me know when you order I’m digging a nutrient pond this fall

The war in Ukraine is putting a stress on nitrogen for farming. Protein equals nitrogen. A high protein plant that does not dehydrate well makes a potential aqueous solution that can be sprayed or row drilled for AG purposes is a God send for a world looking at potential food shortages. Who would a person talk to in their location to see if this can be bumped up large scale. I see aqueous manure spreaders from dairy farms all the time in my area. You are right that skimmer does change things. There are ponds all around us that are duckweed havens. There are lakes that need cleaning in areas that are chocked with algae and duck weed that get poisoned that don't have to be.

The Duckweed Master

did you ever find an electric trash pump??

Anyone have suggestions on where to get duckweed? I bought some last year and it didn't make it. I live in southern Arizona and every bit I put into the pond disappeared. I believe it was the myriad of fish. I'd very much appreciate any insights. Thanks!

6:56 Having a greenhouse will substantially reduce the daily light integral at the water level. I wonder how this would affect the growth rate of duckweed. If there is a substantial negative correlation there might value in exploring other ways to increase the water temp without building a greenhouse, perhaps a solar heater.

Yes I’ll take two..

No one ever specifies dry vs wet weight. Duckweed seems to be at least 90% water. I seriously doubt it has 40% protein by wet weight.

Which of your animals are eating it?

you never really mentioned, but how long do you run your pump to harvest X amount of duckweed per day with that automated system? usually pumps like that burn fuel pretty quick, do you think a 12 volt pump will work on this?

This plant cloning better than anything😂

Can it be freeze dried?

0:52 - it also need nutrients like other plants N, P, K and Ca, Mg, S + micros

It would be possible to easily work out a formula for duck weed production. Ie the ratio of square yards of water needed per pig/chicken multiply it by your stocking rate to give you the size of pond /greenhouse you would need. A shallow pond formed with a pond liner over a long wide trough with say eighteen inches of organic matter would keep the water warm during your winter and provide compost for your vegetables once rotted, further the pond could also produce crops of fish or crayfish.This in turn would control the larvae of flying pests. Could the duck weed be air dried in a second poly tunnel to provide a form of hay??could it be mixed with molasses for beef or milk production??? once dried. I think you might be better off leaving your present pond as is and starting afresh with a new system then if it does not work the green houses could be put to other use. The rotting compost should even provide gas for cooking and heating a little like capped waste dumps. Or to run a drier for the pond weed?

are you going to show it in action?

Mix it with your silage

Any crayfish in the pond? :)

Would u eat it?

we use a pool skimmer on a pole to grab our duckweed to feed to our mother cluckers. chickens.

It doesn’t show how it works

Your content is highly educational and innovative, the handheld camera work with your face in the foreground and the background spinning around is close to unwatchable. The wind noise is distracting as well. Please consider doing voice over instead and if you are going to pan the camera, please, nothing in the near foreground. Just a couple of small changes to make your content easier to absorb. You have great content and amazing comprehensive animal husbandry practices.

Pigs may eat duckweed but all other farm animals have to be staving before they'll eat it..

5 mins 40 sec and I haven’t seen anything yet.

1:55 why do you want soy free feed?

You could have at least run the system for a few seconds for demonstrative purposes.

Maybe a little less face in the camera and a bit more on the subject matter.

to much of your face, show more action...

I could barely watch this… uhhh uhhh uhhh uhhh uhhhhh uhhhh. How about you take a moment before you hit record to think about what you’re going to say, then say it without all the uhhhhhhs and ummmms