In an effort to educate local officials about modern agriculture, the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) joined forces with the Wisconsin Counties Association and Wisconsin Towns Association as part of the Agriculture Community Engagement (ACE) program to host two old-fashioned Twilight Meetings on Aug. 11 and 12.
The first meeting took place at the Saxon Homestead Farm LLC in Cleveland, Wisconsin. The dairy, owned by Robert and Kathleen Block-Klessig, Karl and Elizabeth Klessig, Gerald and Elise Klessig Heimerl and families, transitioned in 1991 from conventional dairying to management intensive rotational grazing and is home to 450 crossbred cattle housed on 900 acres.
More than 80 community leaders, elected officials, dairy farmers, conservation officials and neighbors joined the Klessig family on a one-hour tour of their farm. Karl Klessig explained the workings of their seasonal herd and the importance to care for the land. He outlined the farm’s participation in nutrient management planning, the Conservation Security Program, Environmental Management System and Green Tier program.
“The dairy industry has made huge steps in the last 10 years to deal with manure in a positive way,” Klessig said.
Saxon Homestead Farm has 200 permanently fenced paddocks for grazing, most of which have permanent waterers too. The cows start grazing in April and the farm manages pasture growth and manure spreading very carefully to ensure enough stored forages for winter and emptying of the clay-lined pit on a timely basis.
After the tour, pie and ice cream were served as a moderated dairy discussion was held. Leading the discussion was Dennis Frame of the University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms program. The mission of Discovery Farms is to develop on-farm and related research to determine the economic and environmental effects of agricultural practices on a diverse group of Wisconsin farms. Also participating in the evening presentation were the nutrient management planner and custom manure hauler for Saxon Homestead Farms.
The next evening, more than 100 people gathered near Independence, Wisconsin, at the Bragger Family Farm, a three-way partnership involving Hildegard Bragger and two of her sons, Joe and Dan. This dairy milks 285 head on two farms and is involved in a 32,000-pullet operation and beef operation.
Both Saxon Homestead Farm LLC and Bragger Family Farm are graduates of UW Discovery Farms. PD
PHOTOS :
TOP: Wisconsin Towns Association Executive Director Rick Stadelman welcomes the crowd to the Heritage Barn at Saxon Homestead Farm. Originally built during the Civil War, this barn was recently retrofitted to house history and serve as a meeting place.
MIDDLE: The tour group walked single file past the double-28 New Zealand style swing milking parlor.
BOTTOM: Participants quickly snatched some pie and ice cream to enjoy during the moderated discussion.
