Increased scrutiny offers chance showcase conservation

By Matt Reese

There are few places more scrutinized than a livestock farm in the Grand Lake St. Marys Watershed, which has captured national attention with its toxic algae horror stories. There is no question that a problem exists and, right or wrong, the blame often falls animal agriculture in the Watershed.

“We’re 3 miles from the lake and we live on a major state highway, so people watch us pretty closely,” said Lou Brown, who runs Brownhaven Dairy with his brother Alan. “The town people are very upset about farmers polluting their lake and they will tell you about it.”

But rather than try to avoid all of the unwanted attention directed at animal agriculture in the area, this year’s Dairy Environmental Steward Award winner, presented by the Ohio Livestock Coalition and Ohio Dairy Producers Association, welcomes the chance to show others the extensive measures that have been taken on the farm to benefit the environment, including the notorious waters of Grand Lake St. Marys.

“I want people to come and see and learn about what we are doing here,” he said. “We want to do everything we can to be good stewards of the land.”

Brown’s parents purchased the farm in 1959, which now includes 230 acres of corn and alfalfa for feeding the 210-cow dairy. The heifers are housed 1 mile north of the dairy. There are also 12 to 15 acres of woods on the property. They cooperate with neighbors for some additional straw and soybean production for the operation as well.

The Browns have a long history of cooperating with neighbors, the community and government conservation programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) to be proactive for the environment. Every acre of the land the Browns manage has been carefully assessed to determine the best land use to maximize production while minimizing environmental impact. One example of this philosophy is the wetland that was installed on the farm through CRP four years ago.

“There was a natural low area at a jog in the fields between two woods. We couldn’t plant straight rows there and it was a natural corridor for wildlife that was always causing crop damage. Yields were always lower there, so we put in the wetland,” Brown said. “It was clear full this spring and it really helped us dry out the fields once the water started going down.”

The commonsense measure turned a losing proposition in terms of production into a win for the surrounding farm fields and the environment. Instead of paying the same high inputs for their less productive ground, the wetland diverts excess water from their fields at planting time and eliminates some of the crop damage from the wildlife. There is some maintenance for the wetland, but nothing too taxing.

In addition, they installed 34 acres of 200-foot wide buffer strips along all the roads and ditches from which they are permitted to make hay. They also installed 2 acres of quail habitat in the lower-yielding land along the woods to prevent any crop inputs from leaving the field through surface water. Other than starter nitrogen at corn planting, all of the nutrients on the farm come from manure applications.

The application regulations are tight within the Grand Lake St. Marys Watershed. Winter manure hauling is not permitted. There is a 35-foot required setback from all ditches and roads all year and, if there is no residue cover, there is a 100-foot setback.

This is part of the appeal of the extensive and expanding use of cover crops on the farm.

“We’re experimenting with rye, ryegrass, wheat and Canadian oats as cover crops,” he said. “We like them all. We definitely get more root mass with the rye and the ryegrass. Canadian oats winter kill, which is nice. And, we’ve been making the wheat into hay. We’ve also been experimenting with cover crop cocktails that include multiple types of cover crops. Unfortunately, we couldn’t control them as early as we wanted this spring.”

Other features for manure management on the farm include the four tile stops on the four large tiles that leave the property.

“We can completely shut off the drainage tiles leaving this farm,” Brown said. “We shut them off every time we apply manure and after the crop is planted so we can conserve moisture and boost our yields. And you can visually inspect easily to make sure your manure is not going anywhere.”

Despite all of their measures for conscientious and cautious manure application, the community is still closely watching them. They welcome the chance to showcase what they are doing, most of the time.

“We have been turned in for hauling manure in winter when we weren’t even hauling manure,” Brown said. “People need to see what we are doing out here. And, this part of Auglaize County has been really gung ho about adopting all of these practices. We are not the only ones doing all of these things out here and it has to be making a difference in the lake.”

For more from Brown and the other 2011 Ohio Environmental Steward Award winners, see the September issue of Ohio’s Country Journal.