brooks farms environmental management

7/29/2019 Brooks Farms Environmental Management

1/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

Current Environmental Management Practices

Surface Water Measures, Farmstead Water retention basins, Storm drains, French Drains.

Clean water diversions.

Contaminated water collection.

Milk room, milking parlor waste diverted to storage lagoon.

Feed storage leachate system designed but not complete yet.

Waste oil collection, storage, and recycling.

Staff always present when refueling.

All oil/fuel filters are recycled.

All vehicle traffic is designed to virtually eliminate tracking on roads or

clean water areas. Wetlands filter clean water runoff before it gets to the Walla Walla Creek.

Written emergency plan in place if a manure, chemical, fuel or any otherpotential contamination would occur.

Use of reusable secure cover tarps and gravel bags instead of tires to

eliminate mosquito breeding areas.

Working on Spray on Bunker covering that is edible , this would eliminatethe need for plastic one time use covers that end up in land fills.

Sprayer fill area designed to divert any spills into storage lagoon.

Plate cooler water that is not consumed by the cattle is stored during thegrowing season for sprayer applications.

Underground lines in place to utilize future solar beam concentrator heat ifmore is produced than the shop can utilize.

All antifreeze is recycled.

Surface Water And Soil Conservation; Cropland


2/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

Over 2 miles of grassed waterways in place, additional waterways

planned.

Nearly 50% of tillable land is covered in the non growing season by cover

crops (alfalfa, wheat). All corn following alfalfa, wheat following soybeans, and most corn

following soybeans is planted no till.

Soils are tested every 4-5 years in 2.5 acre grids.

A comprehensive nutrient management program is in place.

All manure applications are logged (field and date).

Manure is never applied in restricted areas when the soil is frozen.

The 2013 growing season will mark the 1st planned cover crops flown onto

growing corn (tillage radishes, crimson clover).

Integrated Pest management plan in place.

We have been able to reduce the amount of pesticides applied to ourfields by more than 60% through the use of transgenic seed.

All non manure nutrient applications are made using variable rate

technology (lime, N, P, K, Sulfur, Boron, Zinc).

All planting, nitrogen sidedressing, and spraying applications are made

using RTK (real time kinematics), this technology gives us sub inchaccuracy in the field.

Use of variable rate technology has reduced Phosphorus and Potassiumapplications by 70% and increased yields by as much as 25%.

Milk urea nitrogen is monitored daily to manage feed protein content to

minimize manure nitrogen.

Approximately 4000 feet of buffer strips are in place. Four prairie restorations are in progress with at least 3 more in the

planning stages.

When fall tillage is necessary slope and direction of tillage is taken intoconsideration.

All alfalfa diet is fed to lactating cows, corn silage is only used as a make

up feed if alfalfa tonnage falls short.


3/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

Alfalfa is a perennial that requires very little application of pesticides,

provides the soil with cover that assures nearly zero runoff, and mines

nutrients from deep in the soil profile that conventional row crops cannot

reach. Bringing these nutrients back to the surface and ultimately to thecow gives us another chance to utilize these nutrients without them getting

into the ground water.

We estimate that during a growing season our crops sequester nearly 10

million pounds of carbon from the atmosphere and provide over 5 million

pounds of oxygen to the atmosphere.

Low Drift nozzles are used on sprayer.

Groundwater, reduced use

Well water is first used to cool milk and refrigeration units before using it

for drinking water for cows and water for spraying applications.

Gray water is captured whenever possible and reused for flushing

applications in milking parlor.

Low volume nozzles are used in the milking parlor.

Groundwater, contamination prevention

Manure storage > 300 feet from wells.

Wells designed with casings and underground pressure tanks, cased 18

above the ground with surface sloped away from casings.

Pesticides are never mixed or loaded near wells, only mixed or loaded in

loading area or in field. No manure is applied within 500 feet of wells.

Manure storage structure built to DNR 213 standards.

Sensitive soil types (soils more prone to nutrient leaching) are typically

kept in more intensive alfalfa rotations.

Very little if any corn silage is fed to the cows meaning more acreage is

kept in alfalfa, resulting in less runoff, greater utilization of nutrients, and

fewer pesticides applied to the soil.


4/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

Our dairy facility is located intentionally on Hortonville soil type, with

this soil type we are assured of proper drainage yet with its deep (90+

feet) clay profile we can be assured that no contaminants will reach the

ground water below.

Wildlife habitat and management

Restoring four prairies at this time with 3 more planned these provide

cover and food for wildlife.

Wetlands and waterways provide food, cover, nesting habitat for ducks

and geese.

Wildlife corridor is being planted to re connect previously fragmentedwoodlands.

Cover crops provide wildlife with sustenance during harsh winter weather.

Fencelines and shelterbelts are preserved whenever possible to providehabitat for wild life.

Brooks Farms has a written set of Bylaws that has to be read, signed, and

obeyed by anyone that hunts, gathers, or fishes on any of the properties

owned by Brooks Farms. These bylaws cover ethics, game management,and expectations of Brooks Farms.

We are working with pheasants forever constructing habitat and providing

them with areas to conduct youth hunts and training.

Brooks Farms is working with John Kellerman and Fox Valley Technical

Colleges Wildfire management program. FVTC does prescription burns

on our prairie sites and enlists students to control invasive species; this

provides a living laboratory for students.

Sustainability

Brooks Farms is one of the first farms in Wisconsin to protect prime

farmland through PACE (purchase of agricultural conservation

easements). We have permanently preserved 1200 acres of primefarmland. All the land that is preserved must remain in agriculture forever.


5/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

As part of the agreement this land must always remain conservation

compliant.

Brooks Farms has been producing food on the same land for 158 years.

In that time, soil fertility has improved, organic matter content hasincreased, soil erosion has been reduced or eliminated, and yields have

increased over 10X.

Brooks Farms annually evaluates net sum nutrient management above and

beyond any required nutrient management plans. Agriculture is a net sum

enterprise. Nutrients leave the farm in the form of milk, meat, grain,leaching, or erosion. By subtracting the nutrients that are sold as milk,

meat, or grain from those nutrients that are purchased we can monitor how

new methods or applications effect both our profitability and ourenvironmental footprint.

To date, the most significant strategy that has had the greatest positive

impact on our net sum approach has been the combination of 2.5 acre gridsampling, RTK, and variable rate nutrient applications. This combinationhas allowed us to get the sample size down to a more meaningful area, the

RTK gives us the ability to know exactly where that area is, and variable

rate application lets us do something about it.

Transgenic seed has had the largest impact (reduction) of pesticides since

we have been using pesticides. Transgenic seed gives the plant the ability,

through natural means to fend for itself against insect predators and allowsus to use much less toxic pesticides to control weeds.

We are always looking for new technology or methods that allow us to

improve soil health, improve air and water quality.We will only

implement new methods if they make both economic and environmentalsense.

Brooks Farms has a 20 KW photovoltaic array on one of its barns, thisarray currently produces 30 thousand kilowatt hours annually.

Soil health is the key to Brooks Farms success, the soil biosphere is a

living, breathing entity that not only determines our success and

profitability but that of all mankind.


6/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

All new heated structures utilize solar heating and lighting

Waste management

Medical waste is collected and processed by a licensed waste managementservice.

All recyclable material is segregated or commingled as processors require.

Recycled materials include but are not limited to: glass, plastic, ferrous

metal, aluminum, copper, oil, antifreeze, all oil and fuel filters.

All chemical totes and barrels are recycled or refilled.

Large, packed, well designed forage bunkers and reusable covers reduce

the need for one use plastic covers or forage bags.

No plastic is burned.

Cows are prepped using washable cloth towels eliminating the need for

single use paper towels. Waste byproducts are incorporated into the cows rations allowing them to

utilize food and feedstuffs that humans cannot. Examples would be fuzzy

cottonseed, corn gluten, brewers and distillers grains, soy cakes, bakery

waste. When carefully researched and utilized these byproducts provide anutritious, economical food source for our animals without competing

with humans for food.

With our on going research into spray on, edible forage covers we hope tocompletely eliminate the plastic waste on our forage bunkers.

Every manure application is recorded,( time, location, amount).

Waste wood from forest management is bartered for services or sold as

chip stock for pulp. Rocks and dismantled buildings are repurposed and used for building new

structures and even furniture and bars.

Energy efficiencies and renewables

All new heated building projects since 1988 have included solar (passiveor active) for heating and or lighting.


7/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

Heat captured from cooling milk is used to preheat the water supply to the

water heater.

Any excess electricity produced by the solar array is put back into the grid

and sold to the electric company. Large, tier 3 and tier 4 compliant trucks and tractors reduce diesel fuel

consumption, burn cleaner, and increase efficiency.

Northern Light Aviation Inc., owned by Ron Brooks provides aerial crop

scouting and aerial digital photography. Aerial surveillance saves time

and allows us to pinpoint problems such as weed pressure, drainage, cropdamage, and equipment malfunctions. Identifying problem areas allows

us to more precisely target our integrated pest management on only the

areas that need attention.

Variable speed vacuum pump.

Variable speed blower on grain drying system.

Heat reclamation on grain dryer.

Manure pit make up system is designed to pump liquids at anytemperature. This allows us to more efficiently top off every load of

manure that is hauled, making applications both more consistent and more

efficient.

Plate cooler used to pre cool milk using 50* ground water to take the milk

from 100* to70* reducing energy needed to cool milk by 40%.

Energy efficient light bulbs retrofitted in all older buildings, and all newbuildings designed with T8 lights.

Timers and motion sensors assure that fans, lights, and pumps are only on

when needed. Super insulation in home and shop (R60+ ceiling, R38 walls, R20+ under

concrete floors and foundation walls).

Radiant in floor heat in shop.

Passive solar design in home and shop as well as active solar.

Chopping corn head is used on the combine to size trash without the need

for another tractor and operator.

Innoculants are used on all stored feeds to reduce dry matter loss.


8/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

Shop has multitude of energy efficient ideas incorporated into it for

current and future use. ( 1 copper propylene glycol lines plumbed to the

south wall for future active solar arrays, solar panel cooling loops in earth

and under aprons to dissipate heat and melt ice, future biomass.considerations for heating, future geothermal hookups, etc, etc)

Swath control and individual row shut off clutches on 16 row plantereliminates over application of seed, fertilizer, and chemicals.

Home has heat exchanger that changes air every 40 minutes while

retaining 98% of heat.

Milk cooling compressors use energy efficient scroll pumps and during the

heating season all heat from cooling milk is used to heat milking facility.

All animal housing facilities are oriented east and west to better utilize theprevailing west wind for natural ventilation, and large southern exposure

for photovoltaic, natural light, and solar heat.

House and shop were designed with Frank Loyd Wrights 1-2-3 principleon the clerestory windows. At 44* latitude this formula means you placethe 3 foot deep clerestory windows 1 foot below a 2 foot overhang, this

gives us our first direct sunlight on Sept 15 and we lose direct sunlight on

April 20. This concept prevents over heating in the summer and allowspassive solar heating in the winter.

House garage is canted 30* SW, this blocks the prevailing west wind,

slowing thermal loss on the south facing windows.

House has 200,000# of 1.5 inch washed river stones that hot solar heated

air is blown through during the day, heating the rocks. At night, return air

is drawn through the rock pit to heat the house. One sunny day providesenough heat for approx. 2 cloudy days.

Where we are going in the future

Phase 2 of photovoltaic project calls for 108 more panels, filling the roof

space on barn. This array will have a 50KW potential and will generate

70-80 thousand kilowatt hours per year and will supply approximately of the farms 150 thousand kilowatt usage each year.


9/9

Brooks

FarmsEst. 1855

We are experimenting with tillage radishes and crimson clover this

summer, if it is successful, more acres will be managed this way.

We are researching active solar heat for the shop, as of today it looks like

the solar beam concentrator from ARC solar will be installed, we believethat 1 unit will provide over 30% of the heat needed to heat the shop.

New planter is being configured to handle larger volumes of trash, thisshould allow more acres to be planted no till.

Three more prairie restorations are being planned.

Farms that have been purchased since our PACE agreement wascompleted will be protected by donating or selling the development rights.

We have entered an agreement with Future Cow to research and further

develop our spray on bunker cover concept.

Brooks Farms is initiating succession planning for the next generation,

future plans may include; artisan dairy products, herd expansion, sand

bedding reclamation, and digestors to produce biogas

New green neonatal nursery is being planned, this facility will be stateof the art with computer feeding, automated air flow control, radiant in

floor warming/transition area, and solar lighting and heating. All waste

from this facility will be diverted into our manure holding facility. Thisfacility will also feature a wash pad that will collect wash water from

sanitizing calf crates, we are looking into sizing this wash pad to also

accommodate other farm equipment.

Even though we have not eclipsed the CAFO threshold, we design all new

facilities as if we had. This way if we do expand our dairy operation, all

current structures will fall into compliance.

Leave a LegacyNot a Liability

brooks farms environmental management

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