The Whole Farm Planner

A Voice of Optimism from the Rich River Bottom of Delaware County, NY

River Haven Farm has 237 acres in crops and 100 in pastures, much of it on rich river bottom soil. Tom has a love for growing his crops in this area of Delaware County. He farmed with his dad for over 30 years and much knowledge was passed on. His dad said, "You can't feed cows snow balls. You have to have a full barn of hay."

Tom has been an active dairy co-op member and treasures the community he feels in this locale. Looking at the bigger picture, however, he is concerned. Tom sees trends toward concentration in the dairy industry and declining profits to all farmers, indicating that farm policy has gone awry. Against the backdrop of these concerns, the Watershed Project has been a ray of hope.

Tom began whole farm planning with the guidance of a "super team" consisting of a district conservationist, an extension agent and a soil and water technician. Their advice eventually paid off in many ways.

"I was always a loose cannon and liked things simple," Tom says. While New York City regulatory agencies thought every farm had to have a manure storage facility to protect public water supplies, Tom wanted a different solution. The Watershed Project's philosophy is that every farm is different, every plan is different and the farmer has "veto power." Tom opted for simpler solutions.

Before '92, Tom had cattle on two farms in the summer. In winter, heifers were housed in two lots which filled up with manure, threatening water pollution problems. There were also cattle in two conventional barns. Now, having spent a total of $100,000, paid by the Watershed Project, he has an exercise lot for milkers, a grass filtration system and a settling basin so he can easily scrape the manure up for use on his fields. A simple slat and gate for $40 solved the overflow of solids in the basin. This was thanks to the farmer-conservationist team's ingenuity.

The milk cows are fed in the barn with three hours a day outside. All the young and dry stock are in rotational grazing fields. Since River Haven Farm surrounds 80% of the little hamlet of De Lancey, Tom can't expand his grazing much more.

Whole farm planning also paid off in other ways. The cropping pattern is much better with a more extensive rye cover crop on the corn field extending the season. Spreading more lime has allowed more effective use of the manure and cut outside fertilizer costs. No external fertilizer is purchased for the hay he grows, and only a small amount for the corn. Tom is purchasing only 25% of the nitrogen that he did before changes in cropping and is able to sell some of the roughage. Though Tom already had many of these practices in place, the planning process helped fine-tune applications to his needs.

Tom speaks highly of the Cornell soil testing program of his whole farm plan. "They keep good records and take the prejudice out of the testing I felt with the fertilizer salesmen who used to come offering 'free' tests!"

The beauty of the Watershed demonstration farms has been the interaction between farmers which inspired them to go home and try innovative ideas. As one example, Tom reshaped 700 feet of his river bank and planted willow bushes in the spring of '95. In January of '96 they had a 500-year flood and only the portion of bank with the willows withstood the flood. As a result, the Watershed Project is now funding programs in other counties to do willow projects like Tom's.

What is in the future? The calves, which are housed closely in the barn for more rapid feeding, may eventually be housed farther apart in separate hutches or possibly in a new solar greenhouse cattle barn to cut down on infections. "With greater efficiencies, we may have excess cows to sell and achieve more balance and harmony between animals and the land at the same time," says Tom.

Tom is also cautiously considering organic certification, because he realizes it would add value to his milk. He considers the farm close to organic now, using integrated pest management practices. Tom's brother recently became a full-time partner in the farm, joining Tom as a fourth-generation owner of the farm. Tom says, "With two brothers caring for animals and land together, we may get by better."

Two summers ago, Tom joined the New York team of the Great Lakes Basin Farm Planning Network. He was proud to have his farm on the tour for the farmers from Guelph, Ontario, and he looks forward to continued work with the Network.

Though concerned about the long-term future of agriculture, Tom Hutson still comes out on the optimistic side and sees the glass as half full rather than half empty, due in no small part to the benefits of whole farm planning.

—Alison Clarke, coordinator of the New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group. Alison represents New York on the steering committee of the Great Lakes Farm Planning Network.

Conservation Farm Option Ready to Go

The Conservation Farm Option will provide money to farmers enrolled in the commodity program to implement a whole farm plan over ten years. Farmers can receive payments for planning, for farm practices similar to Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or for land retirement similar to Conservation Reserve Program, but without being limited by those programs' rules. The purpose of the program is to foster innovation in natural resource protection and enhancement, including soil and water conservation, water quality improvement, wetlands restoration, wildlife habitat development, and other conservation purposes. On-farm research and demonstration is encouraged, much like the SARE producer grant program.

Note that both individual farmers and groups hoping to help a number of farmers (such as non-profits, sustainable agriculture farmer associations, Extension, etc.) are eligible to apply, although all funding must go directly to farmers. In either case, the local Natural Resources Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency will approve individual farm conservation plans and contracts, and may be available to assist with monitoring and evaluation, program administration, outreach and education.

Although only $2 million is available at this time, it is likely that $15 million more will be available next fiscal year.

Farm Planning for Habitat Restoration

According to Tex Hawkins, restoring habitat for wildlife should be an integral part of any farmer's strategy, no matter what other goals may be. By providing bits of land managed for habitat buffers, a farm can contribute to water quality, aid in recovery of fish and wildlife, and very likely add to the aesthetic, economic, and recreation value of private property. Hawkins has heard from farmers that it adds fun and enjoyment to their workdays to see birds and butterflies taking up a home where none existed before.

Tex is Watershed Biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service based in Winona, Minnesota, on the Mississippi River. He works with farmers on a number of projects designed to encourage fish and wildlife habitat restoration on private land actively devoted to farming. Tex feels that every farm has opportunities to enhance habitat, usually at low cost, and often enhancing farming operations too.

The easiest opportunities often start with existing conservation practices. Shelterbelts, fencerows, field windbreaks, waterways, contour buffer strips, and filter strips along water bodies may be installed initially for erosion control, but they all offer opportunities for wildlife to nest, feed and travel. In addition, they contribute to water quality which improves the aquatic habitat of insects and fish.

Tex finds that the next step for most farmers is to assess natural waterways on the farm and find ways to protect them. Projects often start with stabilizing a stream bank, which might include fencing, controlled grazing, and managed water access for livestock. Then attention may turn to a buffer strip along the stream, which can have a dramatic impact on water quality by filtering runoff before it enters the stream. Anything might be better than farming right to the edge of a creek, where plowed soil, chemicals, and even the crops themselves some-times slip into the creek.

The next step in the progression toward wildlife enhancement is to find other spots on the farm that can be devoted to nature. Ditches, utility corridors, hedgerows, wet spots in the field, steep slopes, and other bits of marginal land can provide valuable scraps of habitat. Often such spots do not turn a net profit when farmed anyway, but with a bit of management they will return benefits to wildlife and enjoyment to farm families.

Hawkins feels the fullest flowering of habitat enhancement comes when wildlife and production happen on the same land. For example, bobolinks and other birds will move in and complete their nesting on haylands if the first mowing is simply delayed until the end of June. Streams can be compatible with grazing if banks are rested sufficiently for vegetation to be maintained. A woodlot can be a goldmine for nature and still produce sustainable yields of lumber every few decades. In general, a diversified operation has the most potential for farming and wildlife to coexist.

Misunderstandings sometimes hamper Hawkins' efforts. For example, it seems that many farmers just don't like the idea of a forested stream buffer. Fortunately, recent research on farms in southeast Minnesota shows that good sod can sometimes be an even more protective buffer than trees and brush. If a farmer prefers to graze or clip streambank vegetation periodically, that's just fine.

Another perception that Hawkins would like to change is how we see the landscape. Is a vegetated buffer strip seen as sloppy instead of healthy? Is a "neat and clean" field really a biological desert? We need to promote understanding of good farming practices in light of what they mean for nature as well as the bottom line.

Simple monitoring techniques, such as counting birds, frogs, and earthworms, have been the focus of a three-year monitoring project involving farmers, environmentalists and researchers, including Tex, funded by the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture. After further testing this year, they plan to release a monitoring "toolbox" to teach farmers ways to measure the success of the farming practices they have implemented to improve habitat.

Flexibility is critical to many farmers. Most prefer to choose among alternative practices designed to enhance habitat. Help for farmers who want to implement habitat restoration is currently available from a number of programs offered at local NRCS offices. Providing information and technical assistance on bufferstrips, NRCS has launched the National Conservation Buffer Initiative. The Conservation Reserve Program offers bonus payments and immediate sign-up for bufferstrips or other partial field enrollments, and another sign-up is expected this fall for whole field retirement. Wetlands can be enrolled in the Wetlands Reserve Program. Finally, the new Environmental Quality Incentives Program provides cost-share payments for a wide variety of practices and land retirement options.

—Loni Kemp. For more information on the monitoring project, please contact Land Stewardship Project at (612) 653-0618.

Nutrient Budget is Focus for Farm Planning

The Bennetts farm 600 acres in northwestern Ohio. Like others in the region, they raise corn, soybeans, and wheat. While yields are generally good, they deal with considerable water management problems, mostly involving drainage, but in recent years drought as well. There are also increased concerns about the potential for agricultural chemicals to enter waterways, contributing to pollution in Lake Erie. Ever present are concerns about low grain prices and narrow profit margins.

Rich Bennett is widely regarded as an innovator with cover crop farming. He plants appropriate cover crops and crops in a five-year rotation that involves intricate timing but is manageable. Cover crops can be fall seeded after harvest of a previous crop like wheat, over-seeded into a growing crop like corn, or planted right along with a faster growing crop like oats. The cover crop grows through the fall, protects soil over the winter, and starts growing right away in spring. It is then disked into the soil prior to planting the new crop.

Bennett's rotation starts with hairy vetch into which corn is planted, followed by rye and soybeans, then corn alone, then a repeat of rye and soybeans, concluding with wheat followed by fall-planted vetch and rye. On his better soils this rotation is shortened to three years. Cover crops increase nutrient availability to crops, build soil quality by improving drainage and tilth of seasonally wet soils, add greater ease in no-till planting, aid in weed management—lowering production costs—and extend the growing season.

Although the Bennetts had had hogs on the farm for many years, they terminated their hog operation two years ago because of chronic mastitis problems. Rich's son Craig recently started a contract finishing program with Cargill, to generate income for college expenses. Craig finished between 200 and 300 hogs last year. The hogs were fed corn grown on the farm mixed with a purchased concentrate. Rich contemplated how best to integrate the hog operation into the soil fertility management on the farm. The opportunity to use a considerable amount of manure is an opportunity to reduce fertilizer costs and increase profit to the farm.

A yearly nutrient budget was calculated to reflect differences between overall inputs and outputs of nutrients on the farm. The purpose of looking at a nutrient budget is to assess where all nutrients come from (including fixation in the soil, purchased fertilizer, and manure), and where they go (whether sold off the farm as grain and meat or left in the soil), as a way to assess how to reduce or eliminate fertilizer purchases.

Before taking into consideration hog manure additions, the Bennett's whole farm nutrient balance had a surplus of nitrogen and potassium and was somewhat deficient in phosphorus. However, if manure credits were taken into account, based on the amounts from the previous hog operation, the farm has a surplus of all three nutrients. On the basis of the number of hogs now being maintained on the farm with the new contract operation, approximately 35,000 pounds N, 12,500 pounds P and 16,000 pounds K could be cycled through the manure within a five-year cropping cycle.

Looking at nitrogen circulation within a five-year rotation sequence allows Rich to view the cropping cycle as a whole and to address soil fertility as a long-term process throughout the rotation sequence. Hairy vetch and rye cover crops have contributed significantly to the cycling of nitrogen throughout the five-year period.

Another one of Rich's goals is to increase soil organic matter. Estimates of the amount of carbon contributed by the cover crops, as a percentage of the overall crops, demonstrated that cover crops contribute an appreciable amount to the farm carbon budget.

Finally, the farm plan places nutrient management within an economic context. The cost of fertilizer on the farm relative to gross farm income and other money flows was calculated. Fertilizer represents a relatively large expense for Rich, approximately 19% of gross income, indicating that cutting fertilizer costs should contribute significantly to increasing net profits from the farm.

Note that testing the actual levels of nutrients available in the soil in different fields is a separate management practice, more like a single snapshot in time. A nutrient budget is a form of long term ecosystem management that helps the farm assess the total value of farm-derived nutrients, minimize fertilizer costs, and oversee organic matter and other soil quality factors.

Rich developed his farm plan with his Extension agent and a professor at Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster. Now he has helped form a new group of farmers, the Cover Crop Council for Northwest Ohio, where farmers gather regularly to share ideas and help each other look at their nutrient budgets.

—Adapted from "The Bennett Farm: Integrating Cover Crops and Livestock into a Grain Farming System" by Ben Stinner, Anu Rangarajan, Mike Cote, and Deb Stinner. For a copy of the full case study, contact Jeff Dickinson at the Stratford Ecological Center (614-363-2548). Jeff represents Ohio on the steering committee of the Great Lakes Basin Farm Planning Network.

Conservation Training on the Web