PDPW to co-host Environmental workshops
To help bridge the gap between dairy farmers and community leaders on the innovative management practices being used to protect Wisconsin’s water quality and environment, Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW), along with the Wisconsin Towns Association are co-sponsoring the 2020 Environmental Workshops.
Geared toward community leaders, local town and county officials, conservation specialists, dairy farmers and area community members, the environmental workshops will be held Wednesday, September 23, in South Wayne, Wis. and Thursday, September 24, in Athens, Wis.
Both workshops kick off at 9:00 a.m. with registration and will feature an innovative manure applications panel, a producer-led watershed panel, in-field farm tours and discussions on other relevant rural issues.
Meet your hosts
Sept. 23, Cottonwood Dairy, 9600 County Road D, South Wayne, Wis. Jim Winn, and partners Brian Larson and Randy Larson, manage this 1800-cow dairy in LaFayette County. The dairy is located within the watershed that encompasses the East Pecatonica River and consists of three waste storage facilities and a feed storage runoff control system.
Winn serves as president of the Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance, a famer-led group focused on protecting and improving water quality. This group has been involved in the Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater and Geology Study that aims to define the scope of water quality issues, sources and risks in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties.
Sept. 24, Miltrim Farms, 115315 Township Road, Athens, Wis. Tom and Lorene Mueller, along with Kathy Trimner currently operate this Marathon County farm with a support team of 45 employees. The farm currently milks about 2500 cows, 1100 by Lely Robots and 1400 in a Germania parlor.
Miltrim Farms has been actively working to modernize practices to limit its environmental footprint and employ sustainable tilling and manure management methods. The farm has expanded its anti-erosion practices by planting cover crops like grass or clover between their corn rows to anchor the soil and reduce waste runoff.
In addition, they have installed a new manure processing system that reduces the amount of water the farm uses. For their efforts, they became the first farm in North America to receive an environmental certification for responsible handling of water resources from the Alliance for Water Stewardship.
“When we’re on farms and see firsthand what producers are doing to protect water quality and our environment, we can more effectively work together to form practical and meaningful solutions and policies,” said Mike Koles, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Town Association.
To register for the $30 Environmental Workshop, click here, visit www.PDPW.org or contact PDPW at 800-947-7379. Follow along digitally in advance of and during the event by following @dairyPDPW on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) is the nation's largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources, and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.