Reducing N runoff with ag incentives

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.

Farm photo tour - view here.

Wisconsin Dairy News story on Koepke Discovery Farm:
Link to Full-scale Koepke Video (swf)

Research and advisory team:
The research and advisory team for the Wisconsin Buffer Initiative is included in the Wisconsin Buffer Initiative Report available at http://bombadil.lic.wisc.edu/WBI/index.htm

Research opportunities:
The Koepke farm was selected as a special project with the Sand County Foundation to determine how much nitrogen and phosphorus 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 allows us to look at nutrient losses under a wide variety 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 management 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.

Advancing the use of ethical and scientifically sound land management practices and partnerships for the benefit of people and the ecological landscape.

Sand County Foundation has developed a multi year voluntary initiative to address the growing problem of surface and ground water contamination from farmland leaching and discharge of nutrients. Focuses of this program are to address localized environmental problems as well as problems such as hypoxia that manifest themselves in locations that are far removed from the lands where nutrient management practices are implemented. Sand County Foundation hopes to start to address these problems through the use of a market based incentive. The agricultural community will be the driving force behind this plan so that the initiative will not have to overcome mistrust between the agricultural and environmental communities. Discovery Farms will serve as the lead agricultural expert through the plan to advise Sand County Foundation on design and implementation of farmer outreach programs, specific nitrogen and nutrient conservation practices, and communication about the initiative in the farm community.

The Rock and Milwaukee watersheds of Ozaukee, Dodge, and Washington counties have been selected as the location of the initial market based test. These watersheds were picked because they are nitrogen impaired and have a variety of types of agriculture. Also the Rock and Milwaukee Rivers drain into the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan.