Discovery Farms > Completed Projects

Koepke Farms Inc.

Discovery Farm since:
Special Project farm for the buffer initiative 2003-2005
Special Project farm for the Sand County Foundation 2005-present

Family:
Al, Jim and Dave Koepke (brothers) and Jim's son John Koepke

Location:
Koepke Farms is located northeast of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin in both Waukesha and Dodge counties

Enterprises:
Dairy and Grain
The farm is a confinement dairy operation with approximately 340 cows, 285 dairy heifers and 25 bulls or steers. The cows and heifers are housed in a freestall environment. The bulls and steers are run on a bedded pack system. the farm operates approximately 1000 acres, both owned and rented.

Koepke Farms Wins 2011 Leopold Conservation Award

Video courtesy of Wisconsin Dairy News.

Koepke Farms wins 2011 Dairymen of the Year at World Dairy Expo

Video courtesy of Wisconsin Dairy News.

Koepke Farms begins making LaBelle Cheese

Video courtesy of Wisconsin Dairy News.

Research Opportunities:
The Koepke farm was selected as a special project with the Sand County Foundation to determine how much nitrogen and phosphorus from manure and fertilizers are entering the stream system through surface water runoff (waterways) and tile systems. The monitoring equipment consists of two tile line monitoring stations and one surface water runoff station. The surface water runoff station will also evaluate the losses of sediment.

The Koepke farm has an extensive tile line system in combination with long-term, no-till on a conventional dairy farm. Manure is spread throughout the year, which allowed us to look at nutrient losses under a wide vatiety of environmental conditions.

Conservation Practices:
The Koepkes have been practicing no-till for more than 20 years. They apply commercial fertilizer and manure based on a nutrient mangement plan prepared annually. Soil tests are taken every four years on a five acre per sample basis. They follow a typical crop rotation of corn-soybeans-corn-alfalfa-alfalfa-alfalfa.

Slideshow of Koepke Farm Pictures

Related Materials

12 Documents


KFI. Project Summary: Understanding Nutrient and Sediment Loss at Koepke Farms, Inc. File (16 pages) This summary includes information from all 11 factsheets. The document includes sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen losses from surface water and tile flow from a dairy operation that utilizes no-till cropping methods.
KFI 1. Farm, Site and Study Design: Koepke Farms, Inc. Brief (2 pages) Presentation (3 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Discover more about Koepke Farms, Inc. and learn about the surface and tile water monitoring conducted on this farm to measure nutrient and sediment loss from a dairy operation using no-till cropping methods.
KFI 2. Monitoring Site, Equipment and Procedures Brief (2 pages) Presentation (4 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Explanation of monitoring stations, sample collection, and maintenance of the tile and surface water monitoring sites located at Koepke Farms, Inc. in southeast Wisconsin.
KFI 3. Water Budget at Koepke Farms, Inc. Brief (2 pages) Presentation (4 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) This factsheet outlines the surface water and tile line runoff volume and timing characteristics from a dairy operation that uses no-till cropping methods in Southeastern Wisconsin.
KFI 4. Understanding Water Loss at Koepke Farms, Inc.: Surface and Tile Water Brief (2 pages) Presentation (6 pages) Factsheet (6 pages) The dynamics of tile and surface water flow in a landscape with a fluctuating near-surface water table.
KFI 5. Sediment Loss at Koepke Farms, Inc. Brief (2 pages) Presentation (5 pages) Factsheet (6 pages) Discover sediment loss information from surface and tile water in relationship to no-till cropping practices and geographical characteristics of Southeastern Wisconsin.
KFI 6. Phosphorus Loss at Koepke Farms, Inc. Brief (2 pages) Presentation (6 pages) Factsheet (6 pages) This factsheet helps to explain the amount of dissolved and particulate phosphorus measured in surface and tile water at Koepke Farms, Inc.
KFI 7. Nitrogen Loss at Koepke Farms, Inc. Brief (2 pages) Presentation (7 pages) Factsheet (6 pages) Understand nitrogen loss in surface runoff and tile flow and the factors affecting these observed nitrogen losses at Koepke Farms, Inc.
KFI 8. Challenges of defining tile drainage subsurface contributing areas Brief (2 pages) Presentation (5 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Discover the challenges in monitoring and determining contributing areas to tile drainage systems in hydric soils.
KFI 9. Soil moisture and the potential for runoff Brief (2 pages) Presentation (5 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Understand the relationship between soil moisture and surface water runoff in a no-till cropping system in Southeastern Wisconsin.
KFI10. Single storm event loss comparison to total annual sediment and nutrient loss Brief (2 pages) Presentation (4 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Discover information on how loss of sediment and nutrients compare between single storm events and the annual loss in surface runoff and tile flow.
KFI11. Impact of UWDF Research on: ag management, public perception, and DF research site criteria Brief (2 pages) Presentation (2 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) An overview of how data was used to increase producer knowledge, bridge gaps between ag and environmental groups, and further define site selection criteria for future DF sites.