Koepke Farm Koepk Farms, Inc. s, Inc. Family dairy business - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1/9/2012 1

Koepk Koepke Farm Farms, Inc. s, Inc.

Farm, Site and Study Design

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

Overview of Farm Operation

• Family dairy business operated in

partnership with Jim, Alan, David, and John Koepke

• Southeast Wisconsin near Oconomowoc in

Waukesha and Dodge counties

• Ashippun Creek sub watershed, which

drains towards the Rock River

• Eventually flows into the Mississippi

River

• Located within 25 miles of Milwaukee

suburbs

Overview of Farm Operation

• Each partner has his own duties
• Farm also employs 8 full‐time employees and

10 part‐time employees

• Landscape is gently sloping glaciated ground

moraine comprised of loam and silt loam soils deposited over glacial till

• 1‐10 percent slopes on soils with medium to high

moisture holding capacity

• Water for the facilities is supplied by groundwater
• Farm irrigates some cropland in times of limited

rainfall

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

Overview of Farm Operation

• Upland fields have low permeability soils
• Fields lower in the landscape tend to have

seasonally high water tables

• Some fields have subsurface tile drainage

systems installed

• Manage ~ 1000 acres of corn grain, corn

silage, soybeans, winter wheat and alfalfa

• Semi‐solid dairy manure is hauled throughout

the year, surface applied to corn fields

• Milk 320 registered Holsteins 3 x daily

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

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Overview of Farm Operation

• Sand bedding is used in the freestall barns
• Manure generated during milking is stored in

a short‐term concrete manure pit

• Bulls, steers, and heifers are kept on a

bedded pack system, creating solid manure

• Average 30,000 lbs. of milk per cow
• Has a cow that holds the world record for

lifetime milk production – “Granny”

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

Soil Conservation and Nutrient Management

• Have a no‐till farming system
• Cropping practices driven by desire to

reduce sediment loss and improve soil quality

• Long term no‐till cropping has improved

soil aggregation and created a macropore structure

• Partners have each attended UWEX Nutrient

Management Education classes and have developed their own nutrient management plan which meets the NRCS 590 Standard

• Farm has a soil and water conservation plan

that maintains soil loss below tolerable levels

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

Soil Conservation and Nutrient Management

• Other conservation and water quality practices:
• Low manure application rates
• Current with whole farm soil sampling
• Areas of concentrated flow have grassed

waterways

• Plant cover crops
• Barnyard runoff system
• Feed management

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

Farm Selection

• UW Discovery Farms worked with Koepke

Farms, Inc. on two special projects

• Short, targeted on‐farm research

designed around topics producers identify as needing immediate attention

• Both special project sites on the farm focused
• n monitoring water quality to better

understand the impact of surface applied manure in no‐till cropping systems with tile drainage in this area of southeast WI

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

• 1. Wisconsin Buffer Initiative
• 2. UW‐Discovery Farms Special Project

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• 1. Wisconsin Buffer Initiative
• 1 of 5 WI farms participating with UW‐Madison

scientists to monitor surface water runoff, researching the effectiveness of riparian buffers

• Two sites were equipped at Koepke’s to measure

runoff water volume, soil sediment loss and phosphorus loss

• Water quality data, along with crop management

and weather details from all 5 participating farms helped provide initial field calibration data for the SNAP‐Plus and PALMS software

• More info found at:

http://nelson.wisc.edu/people/nowak/wbi/index.php

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

• 2. UW Discovery Farms Special Project, 2005‐2009
• Water quality monitoring equipment was

installed to compare two tile drainage systems and one associated surface water basin

• Provided information on
• Surface water and tile drainage flow

periods and durations in SE Wisconsin

• Sediment and nutrient loss under different

crop management

• UW‐Discovery Farms conducted this project in

partnership with Sand County Foundation

• A non‐profit conservation organization

based in Madison, WI

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

Surface and Tile Monitoring Site Layout

• Monitoring equipment was placed at juncture of two

adjacent basins (east and west) divided by a drainage ditch

• 0‐4 percent slopes
• Brookston silt loam and Theresa silt loam
• Basins each had subsurface tile discharging to the

ditch

• West basin monitoring sites: 28 acres
• KP3: surface water monitoring site
• KP2: tile water drainage monitoring site
• All fields managed by the farm
• Crop rotation: corn silage, corn grain, soybeans, corn

silage, alfalfa

• East basin monitoring site: 81 acres
• KP1: tile water drainage monitoring site
• Most fields managed by farm, but not all
• Crop rotation: alfalfa, corn grain, corn silage, soybeans

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.

Outreach

• The goal was to provide the research and

data to producers, agency and conservation professionals to get them involved in the identification of environmental management decisions compatible with production agriculture

• A field day in September 2008 drew 140

attendees to Koepke Farms

• Discovery Farms staff presented water

quality results and discussed practices to help producers reduce nutrient and sediment losses

Koepke

Koepke Koepke Far Farms, Inc Inc.