Wisconsin Dairy Farmers Practice Stewardship from Soil to Stream
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Dairy farmers have long been focused on sustainability as it is a core part of their farms. Depending on the specific plans set in place by each farm, sustainable practices can look different across Wisconsin for the 99% of dairy farms that are family owned. However, underlying sustainability principles for these farming families include caring for the land, water, and local communities, safeguarding their health for future generations.
When it comes to water, farmers work closely with researchers, conservationists, and themselves to protect and safeguard this natural resource. Did you know Wisconsin is home to more than 28 dairy farmer-led watershed groups that protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land and water by building soil health and improving water quality? The Nature Conservancy (TNC) shared a feature of a selection of farmers in these watershed groups, highlighting their passion for protecting soil and water, therefore helping “their farms remain resilient and profitable in the face of ever-changing conditions.”
One of the farmers featured by TNC was Steve Carpenter, of Redrock View Farms near Darlington. He and his wife, Lisa, started their dairy farm in 1985 when it was just a “small operation.” Since then, they’ve grown enough to bring in three of their children and seven employees to farm with them, milking 600 cows and farming 2,000 acres of crops. Throughout the years, the farm has had to overcome a variety of issues – low milk prices, high feed or supply costs, or staffing concerns – but in recent years, environmental issues, especially water quality, have become a focus for the Carpenters. Steve and some other farmers in his area got together and started the Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance (LASA) in 2017. The group’s purpose “. . . is to work together to protect and improve their soil, water quality and environment by identifying, sharing, and promoting conservation practices on their farms.”
From 2019-2022, LASA partnered with Farmers for Sustainable Food on a 15-farm, four-year project that demonstrated the impact local conservation can have on “sustainability, farm finances, and local water resources.” The final set of data is still to be released, but using the first three years of information it was found that participating farms had lower soil erosion, reduced acreage needs for production, and lower energy use when compared to state or national averages.
Wisconsin’s Producer-Led Watershed Protection grant program, run by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, has provided grants to help support groups like LASA since 2015. In the first year, awards were given to 15 groups and totaled almost $250,000. The program has steadily grown over the years, and in 2023, 43 groups were awarded a collective total of $1 million! Watershed groups across the state use these funds to “provide financial incentives to farmers to implement conservation practices, for education and outreach, on-farm demonstrations, and water-quality testing and monitoring efforts,” according to a report from the Wisconsin Farmers Union.
This is just one of the many examples of ways in which farmers are practicing sustainability to pass on healthy land, healthy water, healthy cows, and a healthy farm for generations to come. They embrace innovation and stewardship practices to not only maximize efficiency but also protect their surroundings and reduce their inputs. Thanks to these advancements in dairy farming practices, producing a gallon of milk in 2017 required 30% less water and 21% less land and created a 19% smaller carbon footprint than it did in 2007.
It is truly amazing to think about the additional tools and practices that Wisconsin’s dairy farmers are using and living out in their everyday operations. When I think about “sustainability,” it means making sure future generations can continue to use our land, water, and natural resources in ways that will provide a livelihood for our nation’s farmers and food for our society. There is inspiring work being done across the state, proving that sustainability is not just something that we talk about, but rather is something our dairy farmers practice to help ensure the continued success of Wisconsin as America’s Dairyland.
To learn more about the work Wisconsin’s dairy farmers are doing to provide a sustainable environment for our future, visit wisconsindairy.org.
