The Pork Checkoff, along with its cosponsor, National Hog Farmer magazine, has selected four pork production operations to be honored as the 2010 Pork Industry Environmental Stewards. The award, now in its 16th year, recognizes producers who demonstrate a firm commitment to safeguarding the environment and their local communities.
This year’s award recipients are:
•Pembroke Oaks Farm, Wheatfield, Ind.
•Ranch Creek Farm, Carroll, Iowa
•Pleasant Hill Farm, Barnett, Mo.
•L&M Daughtry Farm, Clinton, N.C.
The Environmental Steward award winners were selected by judges represented by pork producers and environmental organizations. The judges reviewed applications from pork producers who are committed to upholding the ideal relationship between pork production and the environment. Their operations were evaluated on their manure management systems, water and soil conservation practices, odor-control strategies, farm aesthetics and neighbor relations, wildlife habitat promotion, innovative ideas used to protect the environment and an essay on the meaning of environmental stewardship.
“This year’s winners of the prestigious award are yet another great group of pork producers,” said Randy Brown, chair of the Environmental Stewards selection subcommittee and member of the National Pork Board. As a producer and past Environmental Steward award recipient he added, “The 2010 stewards are real-world examples of how producers live the ‘We Care’ principles every day as natural protectors of the environment and as good neighbors in their communities.”
The award recipients will receive the recognition of their peers at the 2011 National Pork Industry Forum next March in Phoenix, Ariz.
The National Pork Board has the responsibility for Checkoff-funded research, promotion and consumer information projects and for communicating with pork producers and the public. Through a legislative national Pork Checkoff, pork producers invest $0.40 for each $100 value of hogs sold. The Pork Checkoff funds national and state programs in advertising, consumer information, retail and foodservice marketing, export market promotion, production improvement, technology, swine health, pork safety and environmental management. For information on Checkoff-funded programs, pork producers can call the Pork Checkoff Service Center at (800) 456-PORK or check the Internet at pork.org.
The following is a short description of the 2010 Environmental Stewards’ operations.
Pembroke Oaks Farm
Wheatfield, Ind.
Pembroke Oaks Farm is a modern 2,470-sow site in a unique setting near Wheatfield, Ind. The farm, adjacent to 8,000 acres of wilderness known as the Jasper-Pulaski State Fish and Wildlife Area, is part of the responsibilities of Malcolm DeKryger, vice president of Belstra Milling in DeMotte, Ind., who oversees all pork production.
The farm’s protected location away from other livestock and neighbors offers a good setting for producing replacement breeding-herd gilts. DeKryger works closely with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to make sure that the symbiotic relationship the farm has with the nature area continues to flourish.
Completed in 2006, the farm was designed to meet or exceed state and federal standards. Manure is stored in a deep pit under the gestation barn, with the concrete storage designed to prevent any tank defects and seepage. Perimeter tiles not only prevent exterior hydraulic pressure, but the drainage lines have been fitted with a water quality monitoring sump.
Good neighbor relations have been a staple of management for DeKryger and his entire team at Pembroke Oaks Farm. Not only did they host an open house before any pigs arrived on the farm, but they continue to have that kind of openness today. The farm staff, certified in Pork Quality Assurance Plus®, continues to stay in touch with neighbors on an ongoing basis. Annually, the farm meets with neighbors to discuss the farm’s “neighbor report card,” giving them a chance to bring up any issues that they might have.
Ranch Creek Farm
Carroll, Iowa
The Ranch Creek farm is owned and operated by Peter and Aaron Juergens of rural Carroll, Iowa, and was built in 2001 as part of the Juergens family pork operation. Peter and Aaron’s parents, Ron and Elizabeth, have been raising hogs in west-central Iowa for more than 35 years. The family operation has 5,500 sows and finishes about 150,000 pigs each year.
Ranch Creek features two 48-pen, naturally ventilated confinement buildings that house 1,200 pigs each, growing them from 55 pounds to market weight. The Juergens brothers are dedicated to producing quality pork, as shown by both being certified in Pork Quality Assurance Plus® and a PQA Plus Site Assessment completed for the Ranch Creek finishers.
Managing manure nutrients to get maximum value has been a priority from the start. Manure collects in 8-foot-deep pits beneath concrete slatted floors. As certified manure applicators, the Juergens haul the manure in tankers and inject nutrients at precise rates to meet the needs of their 120 acres of corn and soybeans. Any remaining manure nutrients are delivered to neighbors through agreements outlined in the operation’s nutrient management plan.
The Juergens have hosted numerous visitors to their operation from across the country and the world. Most are interested in the farm’s unique technology to control odors and dust. Off the farm, however, the brothers serve as ambassadors for modern pork production. Aaron has given many Operation Main Street speeches to explain how today’s pork producers take care of their animals and the environment in a responsible and sustainable way.
Pleasant Hill Farm
Barnett, Mo.
Pleasant Hill Farm, located in the rolling hills near Barnett, Mo., is owned and operated by Charlie and Nancy Long. The diversified farm features four nursery buildings that house about 6,500 pigs, along with cropland, pasture and a cow-calf herd.
Since they bought the farm in 2003, the Longs have improved the operation and made the natural environment and wildlife priorities. Deer, turkeys, rabbits and many species of birds call Pleasant Hill Farm home, facilitated by the Longs emphasis on keeping some land fallow and in woodlots.
On the production side, pigs arrive on the site at about 17 to 19 days of age. The Longs raise them to about 50 pounds, and the pigs are shipped to finishing facilities away from Pleasant Hill. Although small pigs don’t create much manure, it’s handled as a valuable resource, with much the nutrient-rich effluent applied to surrounding crop and pasture acreage on the 360-acre farm.
Nancy, who was a former park ranger, offers her on-farm visitors a unique perspective when they visit Pleasant Hill Farm. A recent lunch-and-learn session on the farm brought in more than 60 visitors, including state and local officials, who toured through the clean facilities and discovered firsthand how seriously the Longs take their roles as good stewards of the land.
L&M Daughtry Farm
Clinton, N.C.
In 1989, Mark and Lynn Daughtry started raising pigs at L&M Daughtry Farm near Clinton, N.C. Today, the farm has an 800-sow, farrow-to-wean setup along with nine finishing barns that hold more than 6,000 pigs.
Since the farm has a combination of wetlands, high ground and crop ground, the Daughtrys have worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to establish coastal Bermuda grass pastures and hay fields. They also grow a variety of summer and winter annual crops such as millet, sudan, rye and oats, to help stop wind erosion as well as any potential water erosion.
Manure from the sow unit and finishers is flushed from barns and treated in an anaerobic lagoon system. Effluent is applied through reels or solid-set systems, with nutrients feeding the various crops according to a certified nutrient management plan that is incorporated into the swine operation’s state regulatory permit. Lagoon samples are tested every 60 days to determine the nitrogen content, with the results used to calculate the rate at which effluent is applied to crops. Another source of nutrients for the land comes from a forced-air composter that the family added in 2008 with design help from NRCS.
The Daughtrys seek to balance nature, science and modern agriculture without disrupting the natural balance of their farm, which is located in the Cape Fear watershed. They continue to achieve this goal by combining proven methods with innovative technology so that they can achieve long-term sustainability for future generations.
Source: The Pork Checkoff