Soaring Eagle Dairy

Manitowoc County Discovery Farms Project Area

Discovery Farm since:
Fall 2004 surface water site

Family:
Jim and Sandie Fitzgerald and their three daughters: Kelly Goehring, Julie Maurer and Stacy Klotz

Location:
Northwest of Cleveland, Manitowoc County, WI

Enterprises:
Milk
Corn and alfalfa for on-farm feeding

Research Opportunities:
This farm was chosen to represent conventional, total confinement large-scale dairy operations that have associated cropland. Farm location is in the Great Lakes Basin, a region once glaciated. Gentle to moderate sloping (2-6 percent slopes) landscape. Nutrient and soil sediment loss due to runoff in surface discharge of fields with liquid dairy manure was also studied.

Conservation Practices:
All manure is incorporated within 72 hours with a disk.
Follows USDA-590 nutrient management standards-phosphorus based
Grassed waterways
Manure storage system

Monitoring in Place:
Monitoring removed in Fall 2006.
Intermittent stream surface monitoring station.
Surface water runoff quality of corn and alfalfa fields with liquid dairy manure. The manure is typically applied to cropland in fall. Spring manure applications and applications to alfalfa ground between cuttings are also occasionally conducted. Manure is held in a pit when conditions warrant no spreading.

Soaring Eagle Dairy Website

Slideshow of Soaring Eagle Dairy Farm Pictures

View Soaring Eagle Dairy Presentations

History of Manitowoc Discovery Farms
Farm, Site and Study Design
Equipment, Procedures and Sampling
The Water Budget
Sediment and Nutrient Losses
Impact of Program

Related Materials

7 Documents


SED. Understanding Nutrient and Sediment Loss at Soaring Eagle Dairy File (8 pages) An article summarizing nutrient runoff and soil fertility data performed at a Wisconsin dairy farm by UW Discovery Farms and its on farm research. It was published in the Country Today, Ag Review and Wisconsin State Farmer.
SED1. History of the Manitowoc County DFP Brief (2 pages) Presentation (6 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Short history of the project in Manitowoc County and the two Discovery Farms there. Discusses the problems of agricultural expansion and nearby Lake Michigan.
SED2. Farm, Site and Study Design: Soaring Eagle Dairy Brief (2 pages) Presentation (5 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Discover a Wisconsin dairy farm operation and why UW Discovery Farms performed water and nutrient runoff on farm research here.
SED3. Equipment, Procedures and Sampling: Soaring Eagle Dairy Brief (2 pages) Presentation (6 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Explanation of monitoring stations, sample collections, and maintenance of the sites located at Soaring Eagle Dairy in northeast Wisconsin.
SED4. Understanding Surface Water Runoff at Soaring Eagle Dairy Brief (2 pages) Presentation (6 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Description of 2005 and 2006 field years and their precipitation and runoff events that may have causes nutrient runoff events.
SED5. Sediment and Nutrient Losses Brief (2 pages) Presentation (7 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) Tells about the sediment losses and deposition, and phosphorus and nitrogen losses and the conclusions from the study. UW Discovery Farms used this research for improving soil fertility on Wisconsin dairy farms and to reduce these losses.
SED6. Impact of Discovery Farms Research Brief (2 pages) Presentation (6 pages) Factsheet (4 pages) General information about the farm site, and changes in agricultural management at Soaring Eagle Dairy. Tells about changes in public perspective of agricultural losses and changes in research site criteria.