February Update: Diversity & Cover Crops

February 13, 2023: 
Snow cover on the fields has melted away!

By Andrea Yoder

The winter months seem to always go by quickly as we whittle away at our list of things that need to be done before spring rolls around and we return to the fields.  Winter is the time when we lay out detailed plans for crop production so that once we’re in the thick of it, we simply execute.  Ok, it’s not always that straightforward and we often need to tweak the plan to work with Mother Nature, but thinking through the majority of the details in advance gives us a good solid base for what we intend to do during the season.  It helps us source seeds and supplies, so we have what we need in advance, and helps to keep us on track with timely field prep, plantings, etc. once the busyness of the season sets in.  This month Richard and Rafael have been working on our field plan, which is the process of literally laying out the plans for where we intend to plant every crop.  We need this plan for ourselves, but we’re also required to submit this plan to MOSA with our annual application to maintain our organic certification.  This is a big task and there are many factors that go into the decision making when deciding what to plant in each location as well as when.  In fact, Richard and Rafael started to lay the foundation for these  decisions late last summer and into the fall as we were planting our end of season cover crops, the topic for today’s discussion!    

February 13, 2023:   
Winter kill cover crop in foreground

If you’ve been with our farm for the past few years or more, you likely know that cover crops are something we invest in very heavily and they contribute greatly to the health of our fields and crops.  I have always been intrigued by human nutrition, but human nutrition is directly related to plant nutrition so by default I am also very intrigued by what it takes to grow healthy plants that are packed with nutrients!  Cover crops are plants that we seed in between vegetable crops.  We’ve known for many years that they help to prevent soil erosion and contribute greatly to soil fertility.  Earlier this week the snow cover on many of our fields melted away.  As I drove through our valley I could see various shades of brown and green plant covers on our fields.  This sight, in addition to recent crop planning conversations I overheard between Richard and Rafael, got me thinking more about cover crops.  You see, when I first came to Harmony Valley Farm, there were just a few basic cover crop mixes.  You had your blend of oats and peas, a winter kill mix.  This means it likely won’t survive our Wisconsin winters   and all of the growing benefits will be realized in the fall.  We also had a mix of rye and vetch which is a cold hardy blend that will survive the winter and continue to grow in the spring.  Each blend contained a grass and either a legume or a pea.  Legumes and peas help to take nitrogen from the air and store it in nodules on the root of the plant. If you are planting cover crops in the fall and know that you need to plant an early season vegetable crop in a field, you would choose to plant the oats and peas that will winter kill.  If you know you will be planting a mid to late season vegetable crop in a field the following year, you may choose to plant the cold hardy mix that will survive the winter and continue to grow in the spring. But as I thought about our cover crop regimen in recent years, I’ve noticed that Richard keeps adding different seeds and the cover crop blends have become much more complex and diverse!  “Richard, What’s Up?!”  

Nitrogen nodules on the roots of Austrian
Winter peas

I thought you may find this little bit of Richard farming history to be of interest. I asked Richard to remind me of when he started using cover crops in his farming practices to which he answered (with a little smile) “Well, it dates back to the early 70’s.”   That was his way of telling me that he’s always used cover crops, even before it was a thing on organic farms!  His inspiration came from Rudolf Steiner, an early contributor to the philosophies of biodynamic farming.  As a beginning farmer, Richard studied Steiner’s philosophy.  One of his unique perspectives was the idea of “Solar Capture.”  We know plants need sunshine to survive and thrive, but what they are really doing is capturing the solar energy and converting it to carbon which can be stored.  Steiner’s philosophy was that, as farmers, to maximize solar capture was the equivalent to putting money in the bank!  Every day of sunshine affords you the opportunity to capture sunlight, but in order to do this you need a plant.  Richard took that concept and applied it to a Midwest growing season.  Let say that we have on average about 240 days out of the year when there is the potential for sun to shine down on a plant that is not covered in snow.  Our longest season vegetable crops are about 120 days from planting to maturity.   That’s only 50% of what is available to us, which is where cover crops come into play.  If we plant a cover crop in that soil, we can stay in the game and continue to bank solar energy.  This concept is what supports the urgency in late summer and early fall to prioritize seeding cover crops as soon as possible after we finish a vegetable crop.  Every day you wait is one day lost!

Field of Crimson Clover

Thankfully, in recent years more farmers and players in agriculture have joined us on the cover crop bandwagon.  With this growing interest, we’ve also seen some very interesting research demonstrating that the interplay between beneficial microbial communities in the soil and cover crop plants is far more complex than we fully understand!  Each plant interacts with and supports different soil microbes, so by adding diversity to the plantings you also increase the diversity of microbial communities!  We are learning more and more about the benefits of these microbial communities which are essential for nutrient uptake and increasing nutrient bioavailability in the soil, amongst many other benefits!  We’ll save the detailed research and intricacies of how this works for another discussion, but know that Richard has taken these findings to heart and has been applying these principles to our ever evolving cover cropping practices.  We now have a two-sided page of potential cover crop mixes, each customized with components to meet a different need.  Each carefully crafted mix is designed to maximize solar capture, extract nitrogen from the air, form an extensive root system to hold soil in place, and add additional organic matter back to the soil in the form of the plant residue that will eventually be worked back into the soil.  This is one of the most efficient ways to put fertility on a field and, while it’s not completely “free,” it is a great way to extract resources from the air and atmosphere and deposit them exactly where you want and need them!  

Our mixes now contain a diverse blend of grasses along with different nitrogen-fixing plants which may include not only vetch and peas but also lentils and a variety of clovers.  Richard has created different blends for different points in the season.  If we’re planting cover crops in August or September in a field that we know we will want to plant a vegetable crop in early the following year, we’ll plant a mix that will winter kill, but includes things that will be able to get closer to maturity in the 2-4 months or so that we have before we see a hard frost.  If we’re planting cover crops in that same time frame of August to September, but we know we will not need to plant a vegetable crop in that field early in the spring, we’ll take advantage of those additional solar capture days and plant a mix that will include cold hardy plants that will survive the winter and resume growth in the spring.  The grass portion of this mix typically includes different rye varieties that will maximize the growth of in the spring.  Just before they form a seed head we’ll cut the crop and bale it so we can use it to mulch vegetable fields.  In this case we add yet another benefit of having the cover crop! 

Early November Cover Crop Seeding

Our most diverse mixes now may include up to 6-8 different plants!  We’re still planting oats and peas, but now this mix also includes Japanese millet, Crimson clover, Frosty Berseem clover, balansa clover, lentils and sorghum sudangrass.  We continue to plant cover crops until about the first of November, but we use plants that establish a root system more quickly and seed it twice as thick since we’re running out of time and the nights are getting cooler which slows the growth rate.  We know that there are huge benefits and gains to having even a small plant in the soil, so we do what we can to get something growing!  It can be quite a task to manage this level of diversity and customization, but when we pull it off it’s quite remarkable!  This winter we are researching specialized equipment to seed and cover seed under and between rows of an actively growing vegetable crop.  As soon as the crop is harvested, the cover crop seed is already established and will immediately take over capturing the sun.

I have to say, I’m quite proud of Richard, Rafael, Silvestre, Angel and the other crew members who contributed in a variety of ways to ensuring our fields were “put to bed” for the winter with a blanket of some type of cover crop or plant matter.  All vegetables are not created equally and it is the details such as these that move the needle from “good” to “superior!”  We strive to grow superior vegetables in every aspect, from appearance to flavor to nutrient value.  We see the benefits in the fields, but hopefully you are seeing and tasting the benefits as well!  

Is Organic Food Healthier than Conventional Food? Some thoughts on Cover Crops and Health

By Richard de Wilde and Andrea Yoder

Rainbow over one of our lovely fields!

“Is organic food healthier than conventional food?”  This is the question Anneliese Abbott posed in her recent article posted at EcoFarmingDaily.com, and a question many have been debating for years.  In her article, Abbott takes a step back and approaches this question from a broader, more historical perspective.  She brings attention to the fact that we can look at this question with a very narrow, limited focus, or from a more holistic approach.  You see, it’s not just the nutrients in the food that we need to be concerned about.  It’s also the things that are not in the food that affect health, such as pesticides that are detrimental to not only human health, but also the health of our ecosystem.  Which leads us to consider the question, “What is health?”  Is it just our individual physical state?  The absence of disease and the presence of vitality in our bodies?  What if we widened the lens to expand our view of health to not only our individual bodies, but also our communities, environment, and the world as a whole?    We are all interconnected and the health of our community and the environment around us impacts our own personal health both directly and indirectly.  So when presented with the choice of choosing organic food or conventional food, we’re really in a position where we are choosing what kind of a farming system we want to support.

Onion crop with clover cover crop in the wheel tracks.

If you’re reading this article, you are likely a CSA member or a consumer who eats vegetables from our farm and you have made the conscious choice to eat organic food.  We value informed consumers and feel it is important to facilitate the connection between eaters and where their food comes from.  So this week we want to draw your attention to one part of our organic farming system that is very important to maintaining the health of our land, supporting the health of our vegetable crops, and in turn supporting your health!  We’ve been using cover crops for over 40 years, mainly as a means of enhancing soil quality.  Only recently have we learned that cover crops are an important tool we can use to help mitigate climate change, both by reducing excessive atmospheric carbon as well as their role in making our soils more resilient to erratic weather conditions.  We know that soils with high organic matter hold water better in drought conditions and are able to drain better in times of excess moisture.  There are many benefits to including cover crops in farming systems and, from a farmer’s perspective, we can’t understand why every farmer wouldn’t want to plant them!

Close up of Mammoth Clover, Rye Grass, and Vetch.

While many of the vegetable crops we grow have shorter days to maturity ranging from 60-90 days, we also plant crops that need more days to reach maturity.  Lets consider a crop that requires 120 days to reach maturity.  So the crop is in the field 120 days.  Given our climate, we can also assume there are about 90 days during the winter when it’s too cold and the weather conditions are such that we cannot grow a crop.  But there are 365 days in a year, so what about the remaining 155 days?  What happens over that period of time in between vegetable crops and the changing of the seasons?  If we work with the laws of nature, we know that Mother Nature does not like to be naked and there is great value in having plants on the land.   This is where cover crops play an important role on our farm.  Once we take a vegetable crop off a field, we turn around and plant a cover crop.  The cover crop will then help hold the soil in place and prevent erosion from winter winds as well as early spring and late fall rains.  Cover crops also help us build soil fertility, maintain and build communities of soil microbes, build organic matter in the soil and replace the nutrients we take off the land every time we harvest a vegetable crop.

The difference one week makes!  Cover crop on the left
was planted one week before the cover crop on the right.

Time is of the essence in the fall and our goal is to give the cover crop as many growing days as possible to get established before the temperatures drop and winter sets in.  We have two main cover crop mixes we plant.  One mix includes plants that will “winter kill.”  Even though we may get some frosty nights and cold temperatures late in the fall, the plants in this mix continue to grow, albeit slowly.  Once the ground freezes solid their growth stops.  This mix includes Japanese millet, oats, field peas, crimson clover and a few other clover varieties. The benefit to planting a cover crop that winter kills is that the plants will not grow again in the spring and we can prepare that ground early in the spring to plant vegetable crops since the cover crop residue will work into the soil very easy without a lot of green crop plant matter to get in the way.

Farmer Richard standing in a cover crop of rye grass.

Our second mix consists of plants that can go dormant during the winter, and then resume growing again in the spring.  We plant this mix in fields that we won’t need to plant very early in the spring.  This allows us to leave the cover crop in the spring so it can grow and we can maximize its benefits.  We usually cut or chop the cover crop just before it goes to seed.  This mix consists of cereal rye, rye grass, mammoth red clover, hairy vetch as well as Alice clover and red clover.  In addition to serving as a sponge to take up available nutrients and hold them in place for next year’s crop, the rye also makes a good mulch that we cut and bale.  We take the bales off of one field and put them on another field to mulch in between beds of vegetable crops such as strawberries, tomatoes and garlic.  The clovers and vetch are able to take nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil, which means we don’t have to apply fertilizer!  If we have excess rye grass beyond our needs for mulch, we may choose to bale some to use as feed for our cattle and goats through the winter or sometimes we just chop the crop back onto the field and work it into the soil.  This is referred to as a “green manure” crop.

Australian Peas holding nitrogen in the soil.

Over the past few years we’ve increased the diversity of plants in our cover crop mixes.  While it is more complicated to make these mixes, we appreciate the plant diversity and the different beneficial attributes each plant brings to the mix.  Each variety also supports its own unique microbes that interact with the plant at the root level.  We are also learning that there is also a synergy between organisms that multiplies the benefits exponentially.  Little is know about this interaction, but it is believed that the microbes communicate and function as a larger, very complex organism that can move water and nutrients across the field to plants in need.  Plants and microbes also work together to trade nutrients each may need, but may not be able to produce on their own.  Plants exude simple sugars and carbohydrates on their roots.  These carbohydrates are available for microbes to utilize and in exchange the microbes help make nutrients in the soil more bioavailable for the plant.  This is a very simplified explanation of what is happening at that microscopic level and we are continuing to learn more about this complex and beautiful symbiotic relationship.  What we do know though is that our crops are healthier and produce better and taste better when we have lots of microbial activity in the soil.  So for us, it’s worth the investment in time and money to diversify our cover crop plantings to reap these benefits.

Nicely established September cover crop.

We plant the majority of our cover crops in the month of September, but we’ll continue to plant them in fields as we finish harvesting crops.  Our goal is to maximize their growth potential in the fall, but after October 15 we realize the time on the growth clock is pretty limited.  At that point in the season will start planting only perennial rye seed and we’ll do so at 2-3 times the normal rate in hopes that if we can at least have a short stature, but thick, stand of plants that will be able to hold the soil in place.  Even if we don’t have much height above the surface, the root system and below ground biomass will be established.

Even though we plant cover crops every year, we continue to be amazed at the difference they make in our farming system.  We’ve spent over $6,000 on cover crop seeds that we’ll plant this fall.   We’ll also be investing in a lot of compost as well as minerals that will be applied to fields before winter.  The dollars add up and sometimes we ask ourselves “Is this really worth it?”  The answer is always “Yes” and we consider the investment to be one of those non-negotiables.  At the end of the day, you can be the judge as to whether or not it was worth the investment.  What do you think?  Is organic food healthier than conventional food?
 

Late August Field & Farm Update

By Richard and Andrea

Can you believe we’re at the end of August already?!  We’re quickly approaching that transition point in the season where summer and fall vegetables overlap, the days are busy, the harvests are bountiful and the meals you get to prepare with all these vegetables are colorful and delicious!  The week’s have been flying by for us and there’s no shortage of tasks to keep us on our toes.  First it was garlic harvest, then a push to get the onions out of the field.  Last weekend we harvested about half of our potato crop and this week we’ve stayed busy harvesting thousands (literally) of watermelons!  The next big harvests coming up will be winter squash followed by sweet potatoes and that will bring us up to fall root crop harvest and our final big harvest push before we close out the season.  Ok, now that we’ve laid it all out, lets back up and talk through some of the details.

Farmer Richard inspecting a
pheromone trap in the sweet corn field.

While fall will officially be here before we know it, we still have a lot of summer to enjoy!  We hope you’ve been enjoying this year’s sweet corn, which has turned out better than we had anticipated.  Some of the sweet corn blew over in the storms we had back in July, but thankfully the crops have come through despite that and the corn has been very good!  After this week we’ll have one crop remaining to harvest.  This is the time of the year when we have to watch out for corn earworm, a pest that starts as a moth which lays its eggs on the silks of the corn.  When the egg hatches a little worm makes its way down the silks and into the ear.  It’s a harmless, but annoying little creature.  We’ve been monitoring its activity, first through reports from University extension who reported sightings in Coon Valley, which is not far from us.  Those reports coincided with the first moths we caught in our pheromone traps.  We’ve been using an organically approved spray to treat this pest and try to prevent the worms from being a problem.  So far it looks like our tactics have been effective, but you may still find a worm or two in this late season corn.  If you do, just trim the tip off the ear as the remainder of the corn is still wholesome and delicious!

Mini Sweet Pepper Field

As we move into the latter part of summer we are also reaping the benefits of sweet peppers, tomatoes, and watermelons!  This has been one of the most productive watermelon crops we’ve ever had!  Between watermelons, melons, tomatoes and corn, it’s been a challenge to get everything in the boxes!  We are just starting to pick tomatoes from our second planting, so there will hopefully be several more bountiful weeks of tomatoes.  The sweet peppers are just starting to change colors, so look forward to a variety of orange Ukraine, Orange and Red Italian Frying peppers and of course, mini sweet peppers!  If you’re finding the quantity of food you’re receiving is quite a lot for your household during this peak part of the season, consider how you can tuck away some of these vegetables through simple preservation methods so you can enjoy them throughout the winter and they don’t go to waste!  If you have extra tomatoes, chop them up and cook them down, then either freeze the coarse “sauce” or puree it.  If you don’t have time for the cooking part, just freeze your tomatoes.  If you have freezer space, all you have to do is wash them and cut out the core.  Put the whole tomatoes in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer.  When you take them out you can cook them down into a soup or sauce.  Peppers are also easy to freeze as you can freeze them raw.  I (Andrea) will include some of these preservation tips from week to week in the newsletter, so look to this resource for some guidance.

Looking ahead to some of our fall crops, we are happy to report that the sweet potatoes and winter squash crops both look very good at this point!  Richard dug some sweet potatoes just to see what was happening underground and they look great!  The butternut squash are so thick you can barely walk in between the rows in the field.  We’ll likely start harvesting them within the next few weeks, which means we need to get the rest of the onions and shallots trimmed, cleaned and into the cooler!

An established cover crop is
important to prevent erosion over the winter!

Last week we put out the last of our transplants with our fall lettuce crop and a crop of escarole and radicchio that we hope to harvest in November.  We’ve completed all of our main season plantings including our fall storage turnips and radishes.  We still have several weeks of plantings to complete for the crops we plant weekly including radishes, cilantro, bok choi and our fall spinach and salad mix.  Aside from this small lineup, we’re turning our attention to planting cover crops!  This past week we received over 7,000# of cover crop seed and we plan to plant it all!  Cover crops are an essential part of our system and we rely upon them to hold our soil in place over the winter as well as for the nutrients and organic matter they build in our soils.  Of course there’s also the benefit they offer to the planet as they sequester carbon.  It’s an investment in time and money, but one we feel more than pays for itself in returns!

Steam rolls off the compost pile
as it is turned with the compost turner

As we “put our fields to bed for the winter,” we’ll also be spreading minerals and compost to put fertility back into the soils for next year.  Silvestre has made some nice windrows of compost and it’s heating very nicely!  After the last turn it heated to 160°F overnight!  In order to be compliant with the NOP (National Organic Program), it needs to be maintained at 140°F for a minimum of 15 days and we will turn it to stir it up and incorporate more oxygen a minimum of 5 times during that period.  This process not only turns the raw materials into actual compost, but the time it’s held at these temperatures also kills weed seeds and any pathogens.  By the time it’s finished it will look like “black gold!”

Benchmark for the water level is in place
(lower left) & the permit is posted!

We usually start our conversations by somehow talking about the weather, so we’d better circle back and cover that topic!  Despite receiving rain over the past few weeks, we’re still pretty dry!   Our irrigation crew continues to work hard to keep up with the moisture losses we see simply based on evaporation and transpiration.  Now that the plants we’re watering are more mature, they lose more moisture every day as they “breathe,” but we also see greater moisture loss when it’s windy and hot.  On the topic of irrigation, we’re happy to report that we did receive our irrigation permit that was pending for one of the properties we lease.  We shared about this application process and our irrigation practices in an article we published last month.  We are grateful for the support of the DNR in issuing this permit, but also for the positive feedback we received from some of the community members who initially had expressed concern about this application.  We will continue to do the best we can to manage our irrigation practices responsibly.  Last week Richard and Luis put in the benchmark for the new permit, posted the permit and we’re hoping to start irrigating soon.

Cows grazing on green pastures

In the pastures, we’re happy to report both the cows and pigs are content, thriving and doing well.  The cows continue to enjoy their pasture grass and we have a good supply of hay put up for their winter feed.  The pigs have also been eating well and are starting to enjoy hickory nuts falling in their pasture.  Hopefully they’ll have a few acorns to snack on this fall too!  While we are sold out of pork for this fall’s deliveries, we do still have beef available.  If you are interested in stocking up for the winter, you might want to consider purchasing a custom half beef.  It’s our most economical offering and you get to choose how you want it processed!  Just email Andrea, our meat lady, if you are interested.

Well, there are many other crops and farm activities we haven’t even touched on, including the gorgeous purple and yellow cauliflower that we’re harvesting this week!  We still have a lot of work ahead of us to finish out the second half of our CSA season.  Pretty soon we’ll also start laying the groundwork for next year’s CSA program and start pre-booking seeds and supplies for next year.  The cycle keeps going and we continue to be grateful for your support of our farm.  Enjoy the final weeks of summer and we’ll meet you back here later this fall for another update!

Perspectives on Irrigation Practices At Harmony Valley Farm

By Richard de Wilde

Welcome to Harmony Valley Farm!

I am writing this article in hopes of communicating with a wide audience that includes our CSA members with whom we communicate on a regular basis.  While many of our CSA members are very familiar with who we are and have been with our farm for many years, we recognize we also have  newer members who are still getting to know us.  However, I also am writing this article for the purpose of sharing some information about our farm and our practices with members of our community who may not be familiar with who we are, specifically as it relates to the recent comments submitted by some in response to our pending irrigation permit application with the DNR.  Before I address some of the specific concerns raised, I’d like to provide a little background to bring us all together on the same page.

Uncovering our garlic field ahead of schedule
this past March due to an unseasonably warm spring! 

Nearly every conversation related to farming in some way also relates to weather, so lets start there!  This year we have seen a little bit of everything starting with a warm and dry spring followed by a late May frost.  After that cold snap, the weather pattern shifted and it got very hot!  The El Niño drought cycle that started last August and persisted most of the winter hit us hard!  We had planted our first carrots, beets and all of the parsnips on fields that we could not irrigate.  The moisture dissipated in an unusually hot April and seeds sat there for weeks before a light rain provided enough moisture to germinate some of them.  Thankfully, those carrots made it and we have been harvesting them this month!  We did not get a full stand of parsnips, but we will have some for harvest this fall.

A natural spring that
feeds the creek on
our land

This year has been a challenge for us as well as other farmers in the Midwest.  We have, thankfully, had some rain which has definitely helped and we are very grateful to have received it.  However, we have also gone for long stretches of time without rain, which makes it difficult to germinate seeds and establish crops.  Some crops also have higher water needs to keep them productive and thriving.  One of the challenges we face is that we are limited on land we have the ability to irrigate, which can often help bridge the gap until the next rain.  Access to irrigation can, in situations such as these, be the difference between having a crop or not.

Unlike some growing regions in the west, our area of southwest Wisconsin is typically blessed with an abundance of moisture from rains, natural springs and small to large creeks and rivers.  The Bad Axe River, which runs through our property as well as land we lease and farm, and our spring fed creeks are able to hold their water levels well, even in a drought.  We know this is true because we monitor water levels regularly when we are pumping water for irrigation.  Our last severe drought was in 2012, and we remember it well.  Our current El Niño drought event started last year and despite a couple of timely rains this spring and summer, overall still continues.

Sweet corn setting on ears

If you have driven through the countryside recently you may have seen corn and soybean fields that  look pretty good.  Our beans and edamame (edible soybeans) crops also look pretty good, despite the fact that we have not irrigated them.  These crops have large seeds that can be planted up to 2 inches deep to get enough moisture to germinate and send down a root as deep as needed to find moisture.  This is a good attribute to have in a drought year when you are trying to get seeds into enough moisture to germinate.   However, we raise a wide variety of vegetables and many have very small seeds that are shallow rooted (e.g. carrots, red radishes and rutabagas).  Seeds for crops such as these can only be planted ¼- ½ inch deep and if that top portion of the soil is dry, we need to either time the planting just before a rain or we have to add moisture to the soil to get the seed to germinate.

Irrigation has made a huge difference and, thankfully, our crops look quite good this year overall.  While we have manageable options to irrigate on most of the land we use to produce crops, irrigating from waterways requires a permit from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and we are not permitted to irrigate on some of the land we are currently farming.  Some may ask, “Why don’t you just drill a well?”  Well, we do have two low capacity wells on land that we own, but we farm many small fields spread out over six miles.  Many of our fields are on leased land where this is not an option due to the permanency of the structure, need for electrical access to run the pump, and the significant financial investment.  So, our more practical option is to pump surface water from a nearby waterway using equipment that can be moved and used only when necessary.

This is the time of year when we are planting some of our fall storage crops, but we are running out of land with access to irrigation and it is proving to be a challenge to get these crops to germinate, let alone take them to harvest should we continue to experience extended periods of dry conditions with only intermittent rain.  We currently have an irrigation permit application pending with the DNR for access to irrigation on a piece of land we lease on the North Fork of the Bad Axe River.  We actually started the process in March 2020 by asking for an amendment to our existing permits, but the process was held up due to the pandemic.   We tried again in March of this year, but we were told we cannot amend our current permit and needed to start the application process from the beginning.  The permit process is quite lengthy and involved.  We have had irrigation permits with the DNR since the drought of 1988.  These permits are very specific as to the pumping rate, dates and total season capacity.  We record each time we pump, including calculating the gallons per minute (GPM) that we are using.  Every year we are then required to report our annual totals pumped for each permit.  This information is then made available to the public.

Blanding's Turtle passing through one of our 
vegetable fields!

As part of the DNR permit process, they post a notice allowing the public to comment on the application for the permit before they make their final decision.  The public comment period for our application is now closed, however we had the opportunity to read the public comments that were submitted to the DNR, as well as some of the informal comments individuals made regarding our application through a variety of social media outlets.  We realize some individuals and conservation organizations are concerned about the environmental impact associated with withdrawing water for the purposes of irrigation.  Specifically we are aware of the concern for a negative impact on trout populations and endangered and rare species of wildlife including cricket frogs and Blanding’s turtles.  We have actually found both cricket frogs and Blanding’s turtles on our farm and fully understand and respect their fragile state.  Our entire application for this irrigation permit is accessible on the Wisconsin DNR website, so anyone who wishes to review the documents we were required to submit is welcome to do so.  There is some irrigation jargon that we use that may be difficult to put into context if you are not familiar with the terms and volumes we are representing.  Additionally, it is difficult within the application to fully represent “the big picture” of how we manage irrigation activities in the context of our entire farming operation along with our own values and conservation efforts.  Thus, I thought it may be helpful to provide the public and those who are not as familiar with Harmony Valley Farm with some basic background information.

An irrigation pump and sand filter
at an irrigation site

First of all, the proposed rate of water withdrawal for the property we are requesting a permit for is 150 gallons per minute (GPM) from the North Fork of the Bad Axe River.  On June 8, 2021, a team of ten DNR staff members came out to take a look at our operation and the land represented in our application.  Based on the volume of flow they measured on June 8, 2021, our withdrawal of 150 GPM represents 0.53% of the water volume.  This is clearly not enough to negatively impact any wildlife, including trout or other game fish. The DNR staff was very thorough in their assessment and they spent several hours examining the pumping site, the equipment we use, location of the pipes we would lay and the surrounding wetland areas.  They measured the river flow at our requested pumping site.  They looked at our pumps that are double screened to prevent any small fish or tadpoles from getting sucked into the system.  I would like to comment that the DNR staff deserves credit, not criticism, for the thorough job they do with reviewing irrigation applications.

Hooded Merganser mother duck and her babies
spotted swimming on the Bad Axe River!

While 150 GPM may seem like a lot of water, it is important to put this volume into context.  When we  look back at our overall water usage for irrigation, our annual withdrawal amounts always come in well under the maximum volume we are allowed to pump based on our existing permits for other land we farm.  In fact, I looked back to see what our overall annual water usage was for irrigation in 2012, our last official drought year.  We actually only used one-third of the allowable volume of water we were permitted to withdraw, and that was in a drought year!  Another point I’d like to make is that our current permit includes irrigation access for land we are no longer farming.  Over the past several years, and with repeated flood events, we have stopped farming some land that is too prone to flooding, have transitioned some to pasture, and have sought other options on land that is less vulnerable.  If our pending irrigation application is approved, we would not be increasing the overall water we are withdrawing from the Bad Axe River.  Rather, we are only requesting to withdraw in a different location.

A planting of native wildflowers in full bloom 
on our farm this summer
 

Some of the public comments expressed concern with maintaining the waterways and surrounding ecosystems.  These concerns are valid and ones we also share.  It is for this reason that we employ practices that allow us to do the best we can to deliver water efficiently and only as needed.  Based on my more than 40 years of organic farming experience, it is evident that soil that is cared for with annual applications of cover crops and compost is rich in organic matter which helps absorb rainwater and increases water-holding capacity.  This means the soil is more resilient and is able to more efficiently utilize water, thus requiring less irrigation volume.  We have been managing some parcels of land we farm for 15-30 years and continue to utilize these same farming practices, investing in nutritive inputs on land we own as well as land we lease with the intention of building soils that are resilient.  We also use moisture sensors, as well as observation, to help us make decisions about when to water and how much water a crop needs.  Excessive water use is not only unnecessary, but it is also not good for plants.  Additionally, over the past few years we have transitioned to more extensive use of underground drip irrigation which is a much more efficient way to deliver water than by using overhead irrigation (e.g. sprinklers) where more moisture is lost due to evaporation.  We do still use overhead irrigation in some situations, but only when that is our only option.  So yes, we do irrigate, but we do so in the most responsible manner and the nature of how we are utilizing irrigation is much different than in some areas such as a “Central Sands” pivot system where they are irrigating crops on sandy soil which is not able to hold moisture well.

Blanchard's Cricket Frog found 
hanging out in the pumpkin field!
(photo by Kyle Lindemer)

In the public comments, several individuals also questioned the validity of self-reporting.  We have had a “public interest benchmark” from the beginning when we received our first irrigation permit in 1988.  I personally have dropped a measuring tape off the bridge deck where this benchmark is measured many hundreds of times to check the depth of the water.  Even in the worst drought the water level has stayed well above the benchmark.  When measured on June 8, 2021 by DNR staff after 6 months of drought, we were still more than six inches above the benchmark and it has not dropped since then.  The DNR staff confirmed the same observation we have made over the years which is that the creeks and rivers in this area, being mostly spring fed, are very stable year round.  Is the public interest benchmark enforceable?  Yes, the DNR could come out and measure at any time.  If the water level drops below the benchmark we would not be able to irrigate.  Aside from a visit from the DNR, it is up to the permit holder to be honest and do the right thing.  As I mentioned before, our historical water usage, even in a drought year, is well below the maximum volumes we are permitted to withdraw.  We accurately report each and every hour that we pump and record these volumes both for the purpose of reporting to the DNR, but also because we need to have a record of this information to help us make decisions related to managing crops.  We have absolutely no reason to under report as our actual usage is well under what we are permitted to withdraw.

Creek bank erosion caused by the flood of 2007

I, along with my partners, am very clear about our intention which is to produce wholesome, nutrient dense, certified organic food for thousands of people in our region.  I chose to be an organic farmer in the early 70’s because I felt it was the responsible way to grow food, both for the impact on human health as well as for the environment.  There were very few who thought I would succeed, and in fact the extension agent in my area told me “it cannot be done.”  I have always had an appreciation for nature and the preservation of our land, waterways, pollinator populations, wildlife and ecosystem as a whole as these are all integral components to a healthy organic farming system and a healthy community.  We have been irrigating out of the Bad Axe River with a permit for more than thirty years.  We are still the only irrigator on the Bad Axe River and in those thirty years there has been no detriment to the fish populations as a result of our activities.  In fact, we have invested a lot of time, effort and resources into improving the waterways and try to be good stewards of the land we own and manage.  Every time we have heavy rainfall or a “100 Year Flood,” there is cleanup that has to be done in the aftermath.  We have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars riprapping eroded stream banks, cleaning up debris washed down the river that is blocking the flow of water as well as plugging up culverts and blocking bridges.  Yes, we benefit from these efforts, but so do others downstream as well as those who enjoy these areas for fishing every summer.  We value biodiversity on our own land as well as in the areas surrounding our fields.  We have planted acres of pollinator habitat, establishing beautiful stands of native wildflowers and grasses as well as fruit and nut trees which provide nesting habitat and food for our pollinating creatures and wildlife.  In some areas we have cleared nearby woods of invasive species.  We make significant contributions to the local economy in wages as well as through our support of other local businesses with our purchases.  Additionally, over the last five years we have donated on average 20,000 pounds of produce from our farm annually to Community Hunger Solutions for distribution to food pantries in our local area who serve community members in need.

Clover cover crop established in between rows
of kale late in the fall

As certified organic farmers, we do not utilize genetically modified (GMO) seeds or the chemicals, such as glyphosate and neonicotinoids, that are used in conjunction with these crops.  If you are interested in learning more about the impact GMOs and the aforementioned chemicals have on human and environmental health, I encourage you to read a series of six articles we published on our blog in May-August 2015. These articles were entitled “The Silent Spring” series and are complete with citations for sources referenced.  The use of these chemicals is directly related to human health concerns as well as the single biggest reason for the decline of bird, bat and pollinator populations.  Additionally, we do not apply raw manure to our fields for fertilizer, thus we never present the problem of raw manure runoff into waterways.  We also use grass filter strips along waterways and stream buffers along with extensive use of cover crops to prevent erosion.

Lastly, I’d like to address one individual who expressed concerns about the impact water diversion for the purpose of irrigation may have on the preservation of archeological sites in our county.  I have been aware of the cultural significance of the effigy mounds in Vernon County and the Driftless region for quite some time.  In fact, I had the privilege of learning more about the Mound Builders who inhabited this area some 1500 years ago when we discovered effigy mounds on our land.  I was able to work with a local archeologist who confirmed our discovery and helped us register our mounds so they may be preserved into the future. If you’re interested in reading more about my interest in preserving this archaeological site, I encourage you to read an article entitled “Our Ancestors…Who Walked This Land Before Us?”  This is an article we published on our blog shortly after this discovery. We have a great deal of respect for the Mound Builders as well as the native inhabitants of this region who cared for this land for thousands of years before us.  We consider it a privilege to now be caretakers of this land, including doing our part to preserve the mounds they built here.

In closing, I think many of the concerns expressed by those in the community are ones we share as well.  I believe it is possible to responsibly utilize the Bad Axe River for the purpose of irrigating vegetable crops without causing disturbance or detriment to the ecosystem, cultural treasures or others downstream.  For many of the reasons laid out in this article, anything we can do to keep good, organic farmers on the land is a win-win situation for all.  To those of you who were kind enough to read this entire article, I thank you for listening.  If you should have any further questions, I would be happy to converse with you and welcome you to reach out to me.