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Braggers First Discovery Farm

By Shannon Hayes

Special to Agri-View (printed in Agri-View newspaper, page A-1, March 1, 2001)

There are a lot of buzzwords flying around production agriculture these days. T-levels, TMDL, CAFOs, AFOs, nutrient management – they all have to do with agriculture, the environment and regulations.

To help farmers work through pending environmental regulations and find the most economical, science-based solutions to challenges these regulations present, a new program was introduced last spring, called the Wisconsin Ag Stewardship Initiative (WASI).

A major portion of that program is producer driven – taking research and applying it in “real world” situations on privately-owned farms, called Discovery Farms. The goal is to find out what really works, and what doesn't, as well as what's economically and environmentally feasible.

The first official Discovery Farm is located in an environmentally challenging area near Independence, in west-central Wisconsin. This farm is owned by Hildegard Bragger, and operated by her sons Joe (wife Noel, and children Rosli, John, Tessa and Allison) and Dan (wife Kathleen, and daughter Anna Marie).

Bragger family farm is a multi-faceted operation. There are 660 owned acres, of which 270 are tillable, with an additional 400 acres of cropland farmed. Ninety-nine percent of their land is no-tilled, including new alfalfa seedings. Braggers operate a 180-cow dairy, raise their bull calves as steers, raise some beef cattle and Joe's wife, Noel, owns and operates a 32,000-pullet facility contracted for Golden Plump chicken. The Braggers also work with the DNR and the local Rod & Gun Club to operate a cooperative trout rearing pond, which holds 3,000 brook trout.

What makes their operation environmentally challenging to farm is that it's located in a driftless area, meaning there are steep hillsides, and their farm is at the headwaters of a productive trout stream that actually forks and divides the farmland.

At a Farm Bureau meeting a couple years ago, concerning the upcoming nutrient management regulations, Joe began asking questions about monitoring and the actual improvements recorded once nutrient management plans are put into place. Surprisingly, perhaps, he found there really weren't any applicable numbers available to answer his questions.

When the Discovery Farm program began to materialize last year, Joe was asked if he was interested in participating, since this program was trying to get a handle on some of the numbers he had questioned earlier.

Joe says he realized his family's farm would be an ideal Discovery Farm and could offer several monitoring and research options, regarding many of his farm's environmental issues:

• Most of their cropland falls into a water quality management area, forked by a trout stream.

• Since their farm has several different animal enterprises, they're applying different types and consistencies of manure.

• Much of their cropland is on shallow-soiled ridges, close to bedrock.

• They've been using no-till to combat soil erosion problems on steep slopes.

• Their dairy is a typical size Wisconsin family farm. When dividing the cattle between the three families it supports, you get three 60-cow operations.

• Braggers have been doing regular soil tests on all their owned and rented cropland.

• They've been enrolled in the Dairy Farm Business Survey, with the help of their local UW-Extension agent, which provides several years of excellent financial data.

• And, most importantly, Joe's an easy guy to work with.

“Over 200 of 270 acres of our owned cropland falls within 300 feet of a stream or intermittent stream. The majority of the rented cropland is within three feet to bedrock. Any regulation involving water quality management areas would really impact our operation,” Joe says. “And we're not alone. Farms in driftless areas of the state characterized by the steeper hills and low valleys, like ours, would really be challenged.

“It's really important that we get involved and assess what problems are really out there and not just perceived,” he says. “We need to document and study these problems, and finally find solutions that make sense, both environmentally and economically.”

Joe says his family has always been conscientious of soil erosion and protecting natural resources, as are most farmers. They've taken several steps to reduce soil erosion:

• There are several large dams, built by Joe's father, to control runoff through their valleys.

• They have created grassed water ways in all areas of concentrated flow.

• They've worked to maintain stream banks by riprapping and maintaining a thick grass cover.

• They no-till crops.

• They follow a manure management plan.

• They're working to control runoff from their animal lots.

Recently, the DNR shocked and counted 471 trout in a half-mile stretch of stream flowing through the Bragger property. Joe says this is a result of creating a better buffer along the streams over the years. They reduced the shaded areas, taking out trees and brush, allowing thick grass to grow. Joe says when he was younger - and had time for fishing - the trout weren't there.

Though Discovery Farm monitoring hasn't begun just yet on the Bragger farm, monitoring equipment will be installed this spring and be operating by June 1. Data will be collected through 2006, with a final report in 2007.

Before officially signing on to the Discovery Farm program, Joe says he had several concerns about his family's farm being involved:

• First of all, the time commitment of being a Discovery Farm is about five years, so farming practices would have to remain fairly static during that time, with no changes in the farm's enterprises.

• The program would require extra time and labor to keep records and work with the program.

• The farm's records would be analyzed and shared with outside interests.

• And, if through the monitoring a problem was found they were not previously aware of – how would they be expected to deal with the situation?

“After discussing these issues and concerns, we felt that in order to be able to continue to operate profitably in the future we needed to get involved in the program and to have input into a process that in the future may well impact new regulations and environmental legislation,” Joe says.

Since Joe has become involved in the Discovery Farm program, he says he's heard producer concerns voiced. Some producers think it's too late to have an effect on the non-point regulations currently being debated.

“Although the program may not have a major effect on the current proposed non point rules, former DNR Secretary George Meyer and former DATCP Secretary Ben Brancel said the program's findings would certainly be looked at and regulations could be adapted to reflect findings in the Discovery Farm Program,” Joe says.

“Besides, whenever you operate a business, you need to benchmark and keep records to see how well you are operating – assessing strengths and weaknesses. Why should environmental legislation or regulations be any different?” He says, “Often improvements are made on a farm and there is no measure of improvement over costs of labor and monetary expenses, or expenses due to production losses. We really need to start somewhere, so we can deal with future issues in a logical and economical manner.

“We also need to consider future issues such as odor, air quality, noise and others that may pose future concerns. I am not saying we need to dream up problems and make an issue out of something that is not a problem. But, if there is a concern, we owe it to both agricultural producers and the environment to take a look and see how we can deal with the issue in a way that will provide the best returns to the environment, with the least cost financially and in labor and management for Wisconsin's producers.”

Another concern presented to Joe was the fact that on a real operating farm – outside of a laboratory where all variables are controlled – some of the environmental issues farmers are dealing with have a lot to do with Mother Nature – weather and runoff, such as from decaying organic matter in woods.

“If we can't make changes we can measure because of environmental background or weather events beyond our control, we may have to reassess our expectations of what can really be done. We need to live in concert with the environment,” he says. There are many factors producers can't control regarding the environment, and “what works in a lab doesn't always work in practice with all the variables added in.”

With his Discovery Farm involvement, Joe says he's come to appreciate the magnitude and complexity of a program like this, but says, “This must be a producer driven program, with input from producers, so it can meet the needs of producers.”

Joe says he hopes his family's involvement in the Discovery Farm program will make them better managers. They'll be looking to see how any changes affect their profitability. He says they'll also benefit from the knowledge gleaned from all the parties involved in the program.

“This will be an excellent hands-on learning experience.”

The Wisconsin Ag Stewardship Initiative is currently seeking more farms for the Discovery Farm program. For information or to receive an application, call Dennis Frame, the Discovery Farm program director, at 715-299-0081.