Dairy farmer discusses program that monitors environmental data
Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
SPRINGDALE - Joe Bragger says he believes farmers and nonfarmers can work together to solve environmental and economic problems.
There are fringe groups out there that will never be happy with anything he does, Bragger, a dairy farmer who also raises chickens and beef cattle on his family's farm in west-central Wisconsin, said Monday.
But then there are the rest of the people who farmers can work with to get things done, he said in an interview after giving a speech about Wisconsin's Discovery Farms Program during Arkansas Farm Bureau's 60 th annual Officers & Leaders Conference at the Holiday Inn in Springdale.
The conference theme is "The Landscape of Arkansas"and it continues today with workshops on such topics as Oklahoma poultry litter litigation, a preview of the 2009 Legislative session and cellulosic ethanol from rice hulls and straw.
Bragger's family farm was the first farm in Wisconsin's Discovery Farm Program that began in the early part of this decade.
In speaking about the program, Bragger told the crowd during his speech that he has a deep appreciation for agriculture.
"There's always a new challenge - something new to deal with," he said.
He said the Discovery Farm Program involves "real-life"Wisconsin farms in different geographic areas facing varying environmental challenges.
His family's farm is one of six core farms selected for the program.
The goal is to identify and reduce sources of phosphorous, nitrogen, bacteria and other factors that may impair surface and ground water.
The mission, he explained in his PowerPoint demonstration, is to determine the impacts of production agriculture on the environment, while learning the economic and environmental ramifications of adopting best management practices on a diverse group of Wisconsin farms.
The goal, through these studies on the farms, is to provide data and improve communications on environmental and economic issues among producers, consumers, the research community, policy makers and government agency personnel. Can it work in Arkansas ?
Arkansas agr icultural leaders, including the state's Farm Bureau Board members and livestock producers such as Washington County Judge Jerry Hunton, who raises poultry and beef cattle, traveled to Wisconsin in June to learn about the program.
Also gathering input on that trip were faculty members from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Among the producers attending was Bill Haak, a dairy farmer from Gentry and member of the Benton County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, who talked with Bragger on Monday.
Their goal was to learn about the success of the Discovery Farm Program and try to determine if it should be implemented here.
Stanley Reed of Marianna in Lee County and president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, talked Monday about how the program could be adapted in Arkansas, even though different "prescriptions"fit different situations.
He said the program in Wisconsin has "a vast amount of credibility"with the state's legislature and others when looking at regulations.
Program's beginnings Faculty members in the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and UW-Cooperative Extension proposed the Discover y Farms concept after exploring farm-based systems research efforts in The Netherlands.
Thus, the Discovery Farms Program is a partnership with cooperation from the State of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin System, Extension, agencies and several farm organizations.
The biggest financial backers are dairy producers and the University of Wisconsin Extension.
Other key groups providing funds are the state and federal governments, the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Producer-driven approach The program's producer-driven approach takes research and applies it to the real world situations on the farms, Bragger said, as he discussed the importance of taking into account conditions that affect a farm.
Those conditions, he said, include challenges of the economy and profitability or "sometimes just being down in the dumps because it's tough."
The program incorporates monitoring systems installed that compile data dealing with water quality, nutrients and runoff. Water quality monitoring Core farms in the Discovery Farms long-term studies begin with baseline water quality monitoring to identify a farm's impact on the environment. Thirty-four farms applied for the program and six were selected by the steering committee. Selection is based on farm type, location and issues to be studied. Farmers agree to work with the program for five to seven years to identify concerns and evaluate effectiveness of best management practices. The stream forking the Bragger Farm provides a sur face water monitoring opportunity. The north stream fork is surrounded by cropping acreage and the south stream fork is surrounded primarily by woodlands and unfarmed. Two surface water monitoring stations were built, one on each stream fork, to compare water quality and runoff from the two systems. Bragger said that less than 2 percent of the precipitation that leaves his farm leaves as runoff. Other program components The Discovery Farms Program also works on shorter projects - special projects that have already identified an environmental concern. It also incorporates environmental education and training that works with other agencies, staff and producers on the development and delivery of environmental education programs for producers and others in the state.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
