Natural Resources Board tours KC CAFO

Heim’s Hillcrest Dairy, a family farm on Rockledge Road north of Slovan, had the honor of hosting Wisconsin’s seven-citizen Natural Resources Board (NRB) and other guests Sept. 22.

Heim’s is one of 18 Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) in Kewaunee County, according to an online list available on the Department of Natural Resources website. The state defines a CAFO as an agricultural facility holding 1,000 or more animal units kept in confinement.

The board was on the road for its monthly meeting, held Sept. 23 at Stone Harbor Resort in Sturgeon Bay.
During the board members’ matters portion of the meeting, former NRB chair and current member Bill Smith said the board has been interested in seeing a CAFO for years.

“I thought it was an absolute high point,” Smith said. “We’ve been on a few tours; they’re always great. This one was just a little bit above. It was just a terrific tour.”

Smith said the visit allowed board members to get a first-hand look at what some of the issues are, as well as some of the solutions.

“I thought this was particularly inspiring,” said Smith, who worked for the DNR for 34 years in a number of roles, starting as an environmental engineer. He led the agency’s Northern Region for many years, and was the DNR’s Deputy Secretary from 2003-2007.

“It showed us a CAFO in operation,” Smith said. “It made us sensitive to the challenges they have in trying to conduct their business and produce quality milk. And it also showed us some very innovative solutions that can more efficiently and more effectively support the farming unit, and reduce the risk to water contamination and impacts on the neighbors.”

One of the presentations was by Barry Bubolz, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Field Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The rainfall simulator showed what impact just over an inch of rainfall had on no-till corn, alfalfa, sunflower prairie mix, oats and a conventionally-tilled field.

In addition to a presentation on best management practices, there was a walking tour of the farm, a soil pit demonstration, an update on private well trends and remarks from Peninsula Pride Farms, a farmer-led nonprofit organization in Kewaunee and southern Door counties that is focused on improving local ground and surface water quality through sustainable agricultural practices.

Smith said he couldn’t say enough about the tour.

“I left there feeling I had been given a clear look at what’s possible, and a look at what the future can be,” he said. “It just makes me more optimistic that there’s going to be continued improvements to farming that will enable people to stay in the farming business, and it’ll reduce the undesirable impacts from that.”

Heim’s will be a busy place this weekend, hosting the second annual Farm-Fit Challenge and Moo-Tober Fest Saturday, Oct. 3 from noon to 5 p.m.. There will be farm tours, kids activities, vendors, food trucks, a hay maze, live music and more. Heim’s is located at E3731 Rockledge Road, about a mile northeast of Slovan.