Committed to memory

Abby Bauer Managing Editor

When I was in middle school, the barn on my family’s dairy burned down. Most of the cows escaped, but the entire wooden part of the hip roof barn was gone, leaving just the brick walls standing.

After the dust settled and the smoke cleared, we used those walls as the foundation for the new barn that was built. During clean up and construction, the cows were housed and milked at a farm that had recently sold out about 25 minutes away.

It was a June day when construction of the new barn was complete and our herd could return home. Fittingly, the first cow to walk into the barn was one of the boss cows, a leader, that had always been one of the first cows to return to the barn when the cows were brought up from the pasture.

Even though the cows were unloaded through a different door (not the one they would have normally come through), that cow marched right down the alley and hopped into the stall that always had been hers, third from the front door.

That cow’s actions and ability to remember her old stall have always stuck with me. Cattle are truly creatures of habit.

Farmers can be creatures of habit, too, often because farm work and farm life require them to be. There are certain jobs and events that must happen at the same time every year, every week, or every day. This routine is comforting. It provides predictability and stability. Yet, if a job becomes so habitual, so second nature that a person’s mind isn’t focused on the task at hand, it opens the door for mistakes to be made or accidents to happen.

The same can happen when people have a lot on their plates and start rushing through jobs. Corners are cut and risks are taken that can lead to dangerous situations.

The demands of farm work intensify in the spring, carry through the summer, and before we know it, the busy harvest season will be upon us. It’s a time of year when many in agriculture are running long work hours short on sleep, and unfortunately, the level of danger seems to elevate. In just the last week, there have been reports of at least two on-farm fatalities and one serious injury related to tractors in Wisconsin alone.

Manure handling comes with a unique set of risks, one of them being toxic gases. The article on page 16 explains why hydrogen sulfide is so dangerous — and so deadly. This silent villain can overcome people in a matter of seconds, and it can elevate to unsafe levels in unpredictable areas.

Last summer, an Ohio farm family went through unimaginable heartbreak as a result of toxic gas. Three brothers, all in their 30s, were doing maintenance on a pump in a manure pit. At some point, the trio was overcome by manure gasses, and despite lifesaving efforts, all three brothers passed away. Three lives were cut short, and a family and the surrounding community were left mourning.

This devastaating story is a reminder — and a warning — that dangers are present on the farm every day. These young men had a farm to run and a lot of life left to live. Don’t let this happen to your family, your employees, or yourself — work safely around manure gases, machinery, and animals.

It is so easy to take shortcuts when time and patience are running low. We do it while farming and in every day life. But one little misstep can change everything in an instant. Don’t let your story end this way. Commit to your memory the importance of making safe decisions.

Until next time,

Abby

Let us know your thoughts. Write Managing Editor Abby Bauer, 28 Milwaukee Ave. West, P.O. Box 801, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538; call: 920-563-5551; or email: abauer@jofnm.com.

UNITED STATES

A report published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) noted that onethird of the food produced in the United States is never eaten. The amount of food waste in the nation has tripled since 1960. About half of this waste occurs at the consumption level, in restaurants and at home. The most wasted foods are fruits and vegetables, followed by eggs and dairy products.

This uneaten food contains enough calories to feed more than 150 million people each year. Beyond the nutritional losses, there is also an environmental impact. EPA reported that it takes the volume of greenhouse gas released by 24 coal-fired power plants, enough water and energy to support 50 million homes, and an agricultural land area the size of California and New York to produce these wasted foods.

In 2015, the United States announced a goal to halve food loss and waste by 2030, but little progress has been made. The United States wastes more food per person than almost any other country in the world. Reducing food waste would help reduce food insecurity as well tackle climate change.

WISCONSIN

An ordinance crafted by a partnership of six towns in northwestern Wisconsin this spring would allow for more local input and control over farms with more than 500 animal units, addressing concerns about odor, water and discharge runoff, carcass disposal, air emissions, water use, and more.

At 500 animal units, the restrictions would affect farms half the size of what is officially defined and regulated as a concentrated agricultural feeding operation (CAFO), and local and state groups are challenging the town’s ability to do this. The Dairy Business Association contacted officials at the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection, asking them to review the ordinances passed in these towns to determine if they are consistent with state law. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce lobby group threatened a lawsuit against one of the communities for provisions found in its ordinance.

The ordinance for the towns in Polk and Burnett counties began as a response to a proposed 26,000 head hog farrowing operation that wanted to build in the area. As of press time, the ordinance had been passed by three of the town boards and was to be presented to the others in the following weeks. (EGLE) and Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) are focusing these agricultural inventories in high-priority subbasins. The agricultural inventory process will collect data to locate and prioritize sites with the potential to address nutrient runoff and positively affect water quality. The plan also focuses on a pilot wetland restoration effort to reduce phosphorous runoff to Lake Erie. MDARD and EGLE are encouraging farmers to participate in the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) to help reduce nutrient loss from their fields.

MICHIGAN

State officials released a final version of the adaptive management plan for handling algal blooms on Lake Erie. This serves as a companion document to the Domestic Action Plan for Lake Erie that addressed the causes of blooms.

Michigan is working to reach its 2025 goal of 40% reduction in both total phosphorus and soluble reactive phosphorus loss, which fuels algae growth in the lake. The state’s three focus areas include: • Reducing loads from specific outlets and general runoff areas (point and nonpoint sources) • Wetland restoration, green stormwater infrastructure, and other land conservation practices in both the rural and urban areas • Engagement with partners and the public

The plan’s framework will evaluate the outcomes of actions taken to reduce phosphorous and develop and implement research projects to address gaps and uncertainties in existing phosphorus reduction methods and technologies. The plan also supports watershed management planning, with an emphasis on completing agricultural inventories.

The Michigan Departments of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

MARYLAND

In response to the current Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak, the state of Maryland is limiting the movement of poultry litter. The Maryland Department of Agriculture issued a poultry litter transport ban for part of the state, effective from March 9 to early August.

The order covers Cecil and Kent counties and parts of Queen Anne’s and Caroline counties. These producers cannot send their poultry litter to other farms or receive litter from other operations, even those outside of the restricted area.

PENNSYLVANIA

Pennsylvania is one of the Chesapeake Bay watershed states that is required by federal law to reduce pollution entering the bay by 2025. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the state is not on track to meet its reduction goal.

An amended plan submitted in December met 70% of the state’s nitrogen reduction target, leaving it 9.7 million pounds short of EPA standards. There is also a gap in phosphorus and sediment reductions.

In April, the agency stepped up its permit oversight and will conduct more farm and municipal stormwater inspections. The state has 90 days to submit an improved plan.