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Table of Contents Smith farm has been in the family for more than 150 years...........4 Hazelnuts could be an emerging crop for Midwest.............................8
16
Private well owners receive support for testing water quality....................................................................11 Regenerative farming practices impact water conservation, quality............................................................ 16 Goats, sheep help conservation efforts at Sherburne County Park................................................................22 Robertses raise yaks for the environment, nutrition and fun.... 24
Beekeeping supply business continues growth across U.S...... 27 Nutrient-producing microbes win over Minnesota’s farmers....32 Dung beetles playing essential role in pasture ecosystems.... 36
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PUBLISHER: Steve Ammermann EDITOR: Kelly Boldan MAGAZINE EDITOR: Kit Grode AD MANAGER: Christie Steffel MAGAZINE DESIGNER: Jamie Holte
A publication of West Central Tribune, November 2023 2208 Trott Ave SW, Willmar MN | www.wctrib.com 320.235.1150 Content from West Central Tribune staff and Forum News Service.
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John Virnig President
Megan Williams Assistant Vice President
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Olivia Tersteeg Credit Analyst
Lisa Knutson Senior Account Manager
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Diane Otteson Michelle Hanson Loan Administrator Mortgage Lender
HISTORY OF SUSTAINABILITY Smith farm has been in the family for more than 150 years
By Levi Jones | West Central Tribune
Contributed / University of Minnesota Extension
Philip and Robin Smith, of rural Renville County, accept the Farm Family of the Year award from the University of Minnesota Extension. The Smith family farm has been in the family for more than 150 years.
RENVILLE COUNTY — For Philip and Robin Smith, farming is more than just a job. It is a part of their family and their home. The Smiths, who have operated their family farm together since 1980, were selected as the University of Minnesota Extension’s Renville County Farm Family of the Year. The Smiths married shortly after high school in 1980. Together, they moved onto Philip Smith’s family farm, where they operated the 800-acre
property to grow a variety of crops. “Farming in the ‘80s was extremely difficult for a lot of us. You had to learn how to be innovative and cut costs. That was quite a learning experience for us,” Philip Smith said. The farm has been in the Smith family for more than 150 years. Philip’s great-great-grandparents homesteaded the land along the Minnesota River in 1868. The original farmstead sits just a couple miles from where the Smiths live today.
Page 6 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
In order to ensure that the land can be used long into the future, the Smiths have implemented regenerative agriculture practices. Regenerative agriculture is a system by which farmers can sustain the land that they farm on, restoring soil health and protecting the environment around it. “We were introduced to regenerative agriculture about 15 years ago. We watched other farmers and what they were able to do, and
decided to make the leap,” Philip Smith said. The Smith farm is all no-till, and implements an array of year-round cover crops to keep the soil in the best condition it can be. The Smiths have also reduced their use of synthetic inputs like pesticides and herbicides. The Smiths mainly farm corn, soybeans and winter rye. This year marked their 44th crop. In 1997, they started a seed business out of Sacred Heart, though the couple has retired from that work. Robin Smith also runs a cleaning business, which she has had for 30 years. The couple used to raise livestock and alfalfa, but recently they have been focused on their crops and keeping the farm healthy so future generations can inherit and work the land. “It is important we take care of it. It is a legacy that our ancestors made. We have to take care of it so our children can take care of it,” Philip Smith said. Because the land is so close to the Minnesota River, the decisions the Smiths make for their farm can impact farmland much further away. Philip Smith is the vice president of the Renville County Soil and Water Conservation Board, an organization dedicated to promoting the sustainable use of natural resources within Renville County. It is because of their dedication to sustainability — and the preservation of the farmland that their family has fostered for generations — that the Smiths were selected for the honor. “We just got a call out of the blue. It is truly an honor. When we first got the phone call we were a little taken aback. We were surprised at the nomination,” Philip Smith said.
Stop by today & visit with our staff. We look forward to seeing you!
Contributed
Philip and Robin Smith, of rural Renville County, have worked towards making their farm as sustainable as it can be through regenerative agriculture.
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HAZELNUTS COULD BE AN EMERGING CROP FOR MIDWEST By Noah Fish | Agweek What do an apple grower looking to add crops, a marketing professional working to introduce consumers to sustainable varieties, and a fourth generation dairy farmer looking to diversify have in common? They are all excited about growing hazelnuts. That’s according to a video recently released by a leading source of research, industry development and outreach education on hazelnuts, the Upper Midwest Hazelnut Development Initiative (UMHDI), which is a partnership between the University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin that began in 2007. Colin Cureton, director of adoption and scaling for University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative, is working with Minnesota growers who are adopting hazelnuts on their operations.
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Hazelnuts are used as feed for the Tree Range chickens at the farm of Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, CEO and president of Regenerative Poultry Systems. Noah Fish / Agweek
“A lot of grower led experimentation and citizen science has gone on for decades on hazelnuts in the region, specifically developing hybrid hazelnut crosses between the cultivars native to this region,” Cureton said. “And European cultivars, which can produce a higherperforming, commerciallyviable hazelnut crop.” He said while more growers are gaining interest in growing hazelnuts in the Midwest, one of the major bottlenecks is having a sufficient supply of plants that are both high performing and commercially viable, which in the past has only been European cultivars. “Propagation of hybrid hazelnuts has been a big
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challenge especially that would facilitate the development of say a commercial industry,” he said. Cureton said there’s a list of around 800 growers across Minnesota and Wisconsin that have expressed interest in hybrid hazelnut cultivars that UMHDI research is currently looking into. Outside of the minor apple and grape industries, Cureton said the Midwest does not have much for agroforestry. He said that agroforestry operations tend to be smaller but “quite profitable” systems. “And hazelnuts can be productive for 20 to 30 years, with a lot of the cost in establishing agroforestry being upfront,” Cureton said. Hazelnut plants are a perennial crop that can take up to five years to reach full mature production, Cureton said. “There is a delay period, but once those fields are yielding, they deliver a fairly consistent and strong return to growers,” he said of hazelnuts. By crossing the European and American germplasm, UMHDI has created a different, more sustainable hazelnut production system meant for the Upper Midwest, Cureton said. “Most hazelnuts right now are grown in Turkey and in the Pacific Northwest, and in those systems, they allow the nuts to fall to the orchard floor, and then basically vacuum or roll them off the orchard floor,” Cureton said. “They often use intensive inputs to terminate the understory. So it’s agroforestry, but it’s a bare soil understory.” In the Upper Midwest, hazelnuts are grown in a shrub style system and harvested directly off the shrub of the tree, he said. “This allows for continuous living cover understory, basically living roots in the soil year round, and facilitates more alley cropping or poly cropping, intercropping and silvopasture,” Cureton said. Cureton estimated that between 100-200 hazelnut growers exist in Minnesota currently. “I would say maybe more, but mostly hobby producers, and some early commercial efforts,” Cureton said. “I’ll say in context, that there are some major investments happening in the region.” Two of those that he referenced were by the Savanna Institute, which is making an effort to lay the groundwork for widespread agroforestry in the Midwest, and the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance. Kurt Kimber is a Minnesota farmer located about 30 miles south of the Twin Cities, who is currently working with Cureton on growing hazelnuts on his operation. “The mission of our farm is to grow food, as opposed to feed,” Kimber said. “We grow food-grade soybeans, small grains like Kernza and sometimes we get a sweet corn canning contract.” Page 10 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
Forum News Service file photo
Norman Erickson walks the rows of hazelnut bushes at Hazelnut Valley Farm in Lake City. The hazelnuts are not ready for harvest until the fall, when crews will spend a couple days harvesting.
He said they’re open to other reliable markets, which could be hazelnuts in the future. “We want to look at cropping systems and crops that will be more resilient with changing weather with a changing climate,” he said. Kimber’s farm is part of the ‘Go First Farms’ network featured by the UMHDI collaboration, where its top five cultivars are planted across the farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin. “We think of these farms as the sparks that light the fires,” said Jason Fischbach, emerging crop specialist with the University of Wisconsin Extension. Fischbach said there is a hazelnut that grows wild in Wisconsin called American hazelnut but the nuts are too small for commercial production. “Starting in the 1950s, private breeders gathered seed from the best plants, made crosses and sold the offspring to early adopter growers. Unfortunately, the average yields of these plantings were too low to support commercial production,” Fischbach said. “So they stayed small, essentially hobby farms less than an acre of size. But within these plantings were some amazing plants that were winter hardy, disease resistant and big yields of large nuts.” UMHDI evaluated the best of these plants and has selected what it calls the “first gen selection” of plants ready for growers to try. Fischbach said hazelnuts could be the new crop that Wisconsin farms are desperate for. “In 1990, in Bayfield County where I work, there were 110 family dairy farms. Today, there are only nine,” he said. “Wisconsin family farms need new crop options — new high-value crop options, and hazelnuts can be part of the solution.”
PURE AND SIMPLE
Private well owners in Minnesota receive first-of-its-kind support for testing water quality
By Emily Haeg Nguyen | University of Minnesota Extension STEARNS COUNTY — Keith Koltes of Luxemburg Township is among the quarter of Minnesotans who get their drinking water from a private well. In late September, Koltes waited at a nearby municipal building holding a cooler stocked with water from his kitchen tap. “I received a card in the mail for a free test,” Koltes said. “I haven’t had a test done in 10-12 years, but I’m not too worried about it.” Koltes took part in a well water screening event hosted by the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Minnesota Well Owners Organization (MNWOO) and the Minnesota Groundwater Association (MGWA). MNWOO provides free, accessible and private testing for well users to check their water for nitrates and chloride.
“Whether it’s your well, it’s your treatment system, it’s your plumbing or your aquifer, you must test your water to know what types of actions are important,” said Jeffrey Broberg, MNWOO’s co-founder. “That’s why we host 10 or 12 of these clinics a year.” When the clinic finishes testing Koltes’ water sample — in 20 minutes or so — the results will fall into one of two buckets. Hopefully, he will be one of 80% of well users in Minnesota who have clean, safe water coming out of the kitchen faucet. But if his sample results indicate the presence of contaminants, MNWOO’s wellspring of volunteer experts — from plumbers to water scientists — are on hand to help people find solutions. Anyone who visits the clinic is invited to connect on the spot, to get their questions answered and develop an individualized
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Contributed / University of Minnesota Extension
Local residents wait their turn to have their water tested at a well water screening event hosted by the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Minnesota Well Owners Organization (MNWOO) and the Minnesota Groundwater Association (MGWA) on Sept. 25, 2023.
treatment plan based on their results. This community-based approach to well-water testing is new in Minnesota and in high demand. Nitrates can reach well water in
several ways. Potential sources include agricultural run-off and fertilizer, animal waste, household septic waste and local industry. But whatever or whoever causes it, when
MORE OPTIONS. MORE PERFORMANCE. Page 12 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
someone’s private well water tests positive for contaminants, it’s the well owner’s problem alone. Solutions can be challenging and costly. Additionally, the process of
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testing has often been commercialized by private businesses who charge high fees. Other times, testing is coordinated by local governments for a fee, who then have access to the well owners testing results. It’s for these reasons that some well users have expressed wariness to even get a water test in the first place. For Broberg, he hopes these deterrents and fears will soon be water under the bridge. He and the team at MNWOO are working to empower individual well users with the knowledge they need to protect their access to safe drinking water.
Where there’s a well there’s a way
As a Minnesota-licensed professional geologist, Broberg knows the importance of testing his well water and the seriousness of contaminants. Years back, the well water at his farm in St. Charles, Minnesota, tested positive for a high level of nitrates. He responded by hauling his drinking water from a friend’s home and continued for about a decade. “People are surprised by the tangible health issues. Nitrates in drinking water are linked to serious outcomes
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like ‘blue baby syndrome,’ and recent studies even suggest links to colon cancer and neural deformities in infants,” Broberg said. “High arsenic levels can cause diabetes; bacteria can cause a host of gastrointestinal problems; developmental issues can be caused by high levels of lead leaching from plumbing and fixtures. This is why you don’t want to be drinking contaminated water.” Broberg said it was his own experiences as a private well owner and a geologist that led him to co-found MNWOO in 2018. The organization works to preserve, protect and restore Minnesota’s water resources. What started as a small team of volunteer geologists has grown quickly. MNWOO has enlisted more than 100 volunteers and more than fifty supporting partners. In 2021, MNWOO linked up with
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Contributed / University of Minnesota Extension
A volunteer tests a water sample at the well water screening event hosted by the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Minnesota Well Owners Organization (MNWOO) and the Minnesota Groundwater Association (MGWA) on Sept. 25, 2023.
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Gifts of Grain
Are you a cash-basis farmer? If so, a gift of grain to the Cardinal Pride Growth Fund can help eliminate or reduce activity fees for WIllmar Public School students and may result in tax savings!
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When donating, please identify the Cardinal Pride fund c/o The Willmar Area Community Foundation 1601 East Hwy 1, Suite 9 Willmar, MN 56201 or contact Kevin at 320-235-4380 with any questions. Thank you. www.cardinalpride.org
the University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) in central and southeast Minnesota. With the help of various academic researchers, RSDP and MNWOO developed countless educational materials for physicians, well users and community members, as well as a research report on how to best approach individual communities. “This is something that was really missing. Nobody had any of this,” Broberg said. “We’ve gone from the original idea of helping people understand the contaminants and the treatment options, to being much more sophisticated and effective in our outreach and communication. And that really comes back to the help of RSDP and the community partners.”
Brick by brick
MNWOO’s first invitation to do a water testing clinic was with “Toxic Taters,” a White Earth Nation nonprofit focused on preventing pesticide drift. Since then, RSDP has joined a rising swell of community partners, including water resource professionals, municipalities, businesses and non-profit organizations that have joined MNWOO’s effort to educate and empower Minnesota well users. Broberg said the flood of community support is gratifying. “All of a sudden we look up and we have 50 partners across the state, and everybody that we talk to gets it,” he said. “They understand that private well owners need
support, that it needs to be convenient and low cost. Partners understand that well owners need education that’s meaningful to them — not a lecture from talking heads. They simply want to know what the impact is at their kitchen sink.” Back at the Stearns County water testing event, Koltes’ number is called by the volunteer testing team. His nitrate levels have increased in recent years. But according to the Minnesota Department of Health standards, his water is still safe for drinking. Among other things, the clinic team recommends that he keep testing his water regularly. Koltes is one of a few thousand well users who’ve had their water tested at these clinics in the past few years. But, Broberg said, that’s just a drop in the bucket. There are an estimated 980,000 private wells in Minnesota. That’s why MNWOO and their partners want to keep expanding the program. The need has always been present, but now there’s momentum from the community as well. “We knew that people came to the clinics with trepidation and worry about the results,” Broberg said. “But what we didn’t expect was how much everybody would want to come and talk about their well’s history, things that have gone wrong, how it was fixed or how much it costs. We just couldn’t have imagined how much people simply love talking about their water and wells!”
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BETTER SOILS EQUAL BETTER FARMS Regenerative farming practices impact water conservation, quality
By Shelby Lindrud | West Central Tribune OLIVIA — While it might seem strange for a watershed to be concerned about soil health, for the Hawk Creek Watershed Project in Olivia it all makes perfect sense. “Everything we do on the land impacts water quality,” said Heidi Rauenhorst, coordinator for the watershed. The watershed has promoted the best management practices of planting cover crops and reduced tillage to rejuvenate both soil health and water quality for nearly a decade. It has been working in partnership with the Renville County Soil and Water Conservation District to provide funding and technical assistance to county farmers interested in the possibilities these two practices have to offer. “If we can get the soils healthier, use the land a little bit better, we are going to see those results in our water quality,” Rauenhorst said. The main concerns for water quality in the Hawk Creek Watershed, and in many other watersheds, are high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen and sediments. These contaminants can have a negative impact on not only the water quality but also on aquatic plants and animals. It can also negatively impact drinking water. And it isn’t just a problem for the people living and working on the waterway that is first polluted. In Minnesota, all the water eventually ends up in the Mississippi River and flows down to the Gulf of Mexico, impacting millions of people. “It impacts people downstream for sure,” Rauenhorst said. Most of water pollution in Hawk Creek is coming from water running off the surface and into the ditches, creeks and tile lines, taking surface contaminants with it. While Rauenhorst said she isn’t pointing a finger at agriculture as the one and only culprit, when the vast majority of the land in the county is in production agriculture, it would make sense that a lot of the water pollution is coming from that industry. “That is what is going to make the biggest impact, if we can do something different on that landscape,” Rauenhorst said. The two main practices the watershed promotes for agriculture is growing cover crops and reducing or eliminating tillage of fields. Page 16 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
West Central Tribune file photo
The water coming off farm fields can have a negative impact on water quality. The Hawk Creek Watershed is hoping to entice more farmers to try cover crops and no till in their fields, which can reduce soil erosion and runoff.
Shelby Lindrud / West Central Tribune
Heidi Rauenhorst, Hawk Creek Watershed Project coordinator.
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“We have farmers here that are doing 100% no till and cover crops,” Rauenhorst said. “It can work here.” Cover crops are crops grown in fields after the harvest and terminated in the spring. If the cover crop has enough time to germinate and grow in the fall, the plants provide stability for winter soil, keeping it from blowing away in the blizzard winds. It also helps keep the soil healthy by providing extra nutrients and decreasing nitrate levels. “What works for us every year, we seed straight cereal rye after harvest,” said Dean Dambroten, Hawk Creek Watershed planner and field technician. Dambroten has also been growing cover crops on his Renville County farm since 2016. “We plant right into the starting rye in the spring.” The harvest date of the farm’s primary crop, whether it’s canning vegetables, soybeans or seed corn, will impact whether a cover crop will have a chance to germinate prior to winter. Dambroten hasn’t had as good of luck with other types of cover crops besides rye, but other options can be plants such as clovers, turnips, mustard, radish and winter peas. “It is just a matter of figuring it out,” Rauenhorst said. The second proactive approach farmers can take for better soil and water quality is no or reduced tillage. Dambroten has also been doing this for several years, only having to prepare strips for spring corn planting. The rest of the fields are left with the remains of the previous harvest in place. The organic material left in the field reduces soil erosion, keeps nutrients in the soil and provides a healthy environment for microscopic organisms in the soil that keep soils rich and productive. Both cover crops and reduced tillage are also great for helping soils take in water and store it better. That can be the difference between a good crop and bad during years of low rainfall, like the last few years. Having water slowly filter through soil allows for some of the nitrogen, phosphorus and other water quality concerns to filter out before entering the tile, ditches and creeks. “If we can increase our organic matter through soil best practices, that is a lot of water that’s not going down our ditches,” Rauenhorst said.
Richard Sigurdson
Contributed / Hawk Creek Watershed Project
Healthy soils are the foundation to not only productive farm fields, but can also play a major role in keeping water clean.
To help farmers interested in planting cover crops, Hawk Creek and the Renville County SWCD have a costsharing program, providing funding to farmers. “There is a financial risk, if you are changing up from one way to another, and you don’t know what the results will be,” Rauenhorst said. The two organizations can also be a resource for those with questions or concerns about going no till or growing cover crops. There are also meetings and field days where people can learn about these best practices and then see them in use. “Visual is huge,” Rauenhorst said. These meetings and field days also offer a great opportunity to farmers to talk and network among each other, to see what everyone is doing and what is and isn’t working. Soil health has become an important part of Hawk Creek’s mission for nearly a decade, as the program looked for other ways to address water quality in the watershed. While the Hawk Creek Watershed Project is a big proponent of these best practices, Rauenhorst knows they’re not a silver bullet and what works for one farm might not work for another. It takes time, money South
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and patience. Dambroten himself has had a lot of challenges with cover crops and no till, but he has also had successes. “I’m still working on it,” Dambroten said. “I’m not ready to give up yet.” Despite these challenges, every year more and more farmers and landowners are interested in these opportunities to improve not only their field production but also help with the environment. Even if only a small percentage of ag land is farmed using these practices, it could make a big step toward revitalizing not only water quality but soil health. “We need agriculture,” Dambroten said. “We need to figure out how to work with it and make it the best we can.”
Contributed / Hawk Creek Watershed Project
This field was planted with cover crops that were enrolled in HCWP/Renville SWCD cover crop and reduced tillage costshare program.
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GOATS, SHEEP HELP CONSERVATION EFFORTS AT SHERBURNE COUNTY PARK By Trent Abrego | St. Cloud LIVE ZIMMERMAN, Minn. — In an effort to restore native prairie habitat at Grams Regional Park, two Sherburne County organizations have collaborated to receive a grant that has been used for a number of different restoration efforts. That includes conservation grazing by 200 to 400 goats and sheep. “(It’s) an organic method of preparing a site for native prairie restoration is conservation grazing,” said Gina Hugo, parks coordinator for the Sherburne County Parks and Recreation Department. “So we, essentially, want the animals to wreck a pasture to help by eating it down to just the nub. “They ate it right down to the soil and we did that three times now.” The program focused on restoring and enhancing diverse native habitat while benefiting pollinators and insects. The first grazing was in mid-August 2022 and that continued for a number of other instances, according to Hugo and Frances Gerdes, who served as the project organizer and planner with the Sherburne County Soil and Water Conservation District. Most recently, those animals returned in the spring to trample in native seed that was installed and graze down any of the unwanted vegetation, according to Gerdes. And, there’s a possibility that the goats and sheep will return next spring to open up the canopy and allow for further germination, Gerdes said. While the prescribed burn, three conservation grazing sessions and seeding has been completed, the project will continue to develop. “Prairies evolved over many, many years and they are always changing. They’re really dynamic and they always need that disturbance regime, and so that’s something we’ll continue to monitor,” Hugo said.
Benefits of grazing
Grazing is thought to be re-emerging, according to Hugo. “(Grazing) is something that maybe used to be done before we had synthetic chemicals and before we had gas-powered cultivation. I think animals were probably used pretty regularly to eat down an area and then Page 22 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
Contributed / Sherburne County
Goats graze at Grams Regional Park in Sherburne County as part of the park’s prairie restoration project.
convert the vegetation type,” Gerdes said. “But, now it’s reemerging for areas that want to avoid chemical application and can’t do mechanical site prep.” The park is highly used by people walking their dogs or children playing, Gerdes said. “It’s just too steep of ground to work or mow or do anything with equipment. So this was a great way because goats and sheep are pretty agile. They can work steep slopes without any problems,” Gerdes said. Throughout the process, Hugo said they saw more benefit with sheep grazing as opposed to goats, because the former typically does a better job on grassy types of vegetation. The animals used for conservation grazing were contracted by Minnesota Native Landscapes. “Having an experienced herdsman or herds company is really valuable in knowing what kind of animals and what kind of densities to apply,” Hugo said. Before the grazing took place first last summer, a prescribed fire burn was conducted in July of that year, to prevent bush and trees from overtaking the prairie and the buildup of dead vegetation that encourages weeds. “Once a prairie is more established, we usually say that’s about three to five years. Then after that, some kind of disturbance regime happens … So a fire one year, grazing one year, maybe mowing one year and continuing on throughout the life of the prairie,” Hugo said.
Efforts aimed toward helping at-risk species This past spring, planting took place as part of the
project, with some of the seeds including leadplant, butterflyweed, wild lupine, asters and goldenrods. When thinking about the seed mixes, Gerdes said they were intentional in choosing seeds that are beneficial to at-risk species. Such as the rusty-patched bumblebee, the first federally endangered species, Gerdes said. “We know it is within Sherburne County, it has been identified in the Sand Dunes State Forest … So we know some specific species that it really likes,” Gerdes said. Other species included the Uncas skipper, which is confined to a large complex of sand dunes restricted to an isolated population in Sherburne County, according to the Minnesota Department of Resources. To keep that butterfly, which is considered small with a robust body in the area, Gerdes said Hairy grama was planted. “There’s a lot of thinking when you’re creating a seed mix. You really have to think about ‘OK, what kind
Contributed / MNL Corp
A photo of the prescribed burn as part of the Grams Park Prairie Restoration near Zimmerman.
of insects and wildlife do I want to attract?’ ” Gerdes said. “... So a lot of thought went into planning these seed mixes that are going to be very diverse and have flowers blooming really early in the spring, all the way to late in the fall.”
About the grant
The grant, a Habitat Enhancement Landscape Pilot, is a program focused on restoring and enhancing diverse native habitat on conservation lands and natural areas strategically located across
Minnesota to address declining pollinators and other beneficial insects, according to the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. The grant was proposed to be used for site assessment, vegetation removal, seedbed preparation, seeding and planting, establishment and aftercare and long-term management. “That’s kind of the one thing about the grant funding we received, they’re very interested in kind of bringing back these more organic methods because there’s a lot of research coming out about the negatives of using so much chemical herbicides,” Gerdes said. “We’re really lucky we are kind of able to experiment on using this type of method with this funding that we have available for us.” Funding was made possible through an appropriation from the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund. Grams Regional Park is northeast of Zimmerman.
November 2023 – West Central Tribune – Page 23
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’
Jeff and Lona Jean Roberts raise yaks for the environment, nutrition and fun
By Nicole Ronchetti | The Bemidji Pioneer BEMIDJI – Just a few miles outside of Bemidji there’s a herd of animals more associated with the high altitudes and rocky cliffs of the Himalayas than the prairies and woods of the Midwest, but Jeff and Lona Jean Roberts are hoping to change that. They’ve been raising yaks at Cold Bore Ranch for five years now, and have grown their herd to around 60 members in that time. Smaller than traditional beef cattle, and even their wild counterparts in Asia, the animals have long, shaggy fur well-suited for cold climates and long, curved horns on either side of their head. While they may not be the typical animals found on a farm in Minnesota, Jeff explained they have significant advantages over cattle and they hope that their ranch is
Page 24 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
Yaks graze in the pasture on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, at Cold Bore Ranch outside of Bemidji.
Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
Jeff and Lona Jean Roberts look over their yak herd on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, at Cold Bore Ranch outside of Bemidji.
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just the first in the area to raise them. “Yaks are sustainable, they can live off the land,” he shared. “They’re also the highest (nutritional) value red meat that we’ve ever heard of, they even have a greater nutritional value than salmon.” The Roberts have recently begun selling their products at local farmers markets in Bagley and Bemidji, touting yak meat as a lean, healthy protein with high quantities of iron, vitamins and amino acids. “We sell a lot of meat. We only just started selling our meat at farmers markets,” Jeff said, “and our hope is for that to grow more.” But it isn’t just the nutritional value that led the Roberts to raise yaks, it was also their lower environmental impact, especially when compared to beef. “I was raised on a beef farm, but for me, yaks are the more sustainable animal,” Lona Jean shared. “They have a smaller footprint.” As smaller animals than cows, yaks eat less than cattle and can be raised on less pasture. They also produce fewer greenhouse gasses, making them more environmentally friendly. Lona Jean was raised on a cattle farm in Hines, and when she and her husband decided to raise yaks the differences took some getting used to. “We had a learning curve at first,” she said. “It was learning the differences. You can herd cows, but yaks don’t herd as well, so we had to learn how to get them from pasture to pasture.” But after the initial hurdles, both Jeff and Lona Jean have fallen in love with raising yaks and the unique characteristics of their herd.
Yaks graze in the pasture on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, at Cold Bore Ranch outside of Bemidji. Maggi Fellerman / Bemidji Pioneer
Page 26 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
“They’re really just a hoot,” Lona Jean laughed. “They make different noises and they talk to each other. It’s great to watch.” The Roberts have a good relationship with their yaks and can walk freely in the field with them. “They’re very smart animals,” Jeff said. “Our animals know us and are safe to be around. We can walk right among them.” In fact, sometimes the trouble is getting the yaks to leave them alone. One yak named Marcella has a particular fondness for the Roberts and will follow them while they’re in the pasture expecting treats and nose scratches. “Marcella was raised on this farm, so she’s really familiar with us,” Lona Jean said. “She’s a sweetheart, but it can get a little annoying.” The Roberts are hoping to increase their herd to about 100 yaks, a number they expect to be at in a few years. But more than just their own herd, they also hope to inspire other farmers in the area to consider raising yaks themselves. “Our goal is to try to get other small ranches in the region,” Jeff said. “Right now I guess I’m the yak guy, the hope is for it to get a lot bigger.” With all the benefits yaks possess, both as an animal to raise and a product to sell, ultimately the Roberts just want to share their love of the animal with others. “I’ve always loved (raising animals),” Lona Jean said, “and yaks are something special.” To learn more about Cold Bore Ranch or to buy yak meat, visit coldboreranch.com. You can also find them on Facebook or call (218) 766-8193.
BIG GROWTH IN LITTLE HACKENSACK
Beekeeping supply business continues growth across U.S.
By Nancy Vogt | Echo Journal HACKENSACK — With a population of around 300 people, Hackensack is home to a giant industry that at times employs that many people or more. Mann Lake Bee & Ag Supply is the world’s largest manufacturer and supplier of beekeeping equipment. The company that regularly employs more than 200 people is tucked behind the trees just off Highway 371 at the city’s southern end, on Cass County Road 40. From the highway, part of one building is visible with the red letters “Mann Lake Ltd.” Additions of buildings through the years takes the company several blocks down First Street Northwest. Mann Lake manufactures beehive boxes and frames that beekeepers use for their bees, as well as feed
supplements for bees. The company also buys items from various vendors across the world to resell. “So basically, if there’s anything that you need to be a beekeeper, we supply it,” said Jenna Prososki, Mann Lake customer service manager. The company also offers poultry and bird supplies.
Workforce
Before buying its Kentucky branch with a manufacturing facility, Mann Lake in Hackensack employed 400-500 people. “So we were double the town population, which was just crazy,” CFO Shana Rowlette said. Mann Lake currently employs about 225 people in Hackensack who come from nearby communities like
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Jenna Prososki, Mann Lake Bee & Ag Supply customer service manager, shows beehives sold at the company store in Hackensack on Aug. 16, 2023.
Pine River, Park Rapids, Walker and some from as far as Brainerd-Baxter and Bemidji. “You’re definitely limited because there’s only so many people living in this area,” Prososki said. The COVID-19 pandemic actually helped with the company’s workforce because people moved from the Twin Cities to their cabins up north. “It was a really good thing for us because it just opened up the talent pool a little bit more,” Prososki said. “But it’s definitely still a challenge for anybody looking to relocate to the area to find housing, and that’s something that our CFO, Shana, works with the city and the county on — providing data and trying to improve that.” The company is entering its slower time of the year, but likely will be hiring in January and February to gear up for the busy season that runs through September. “As soon as it starts to warm up in the southern half of the United States, we get busy,” Prososki said.
History
Jack and Betty Thomas started Mann Lake Bee Supply in 1983 in the garage of their home on Mann Lake, which is how the company got its name. “They were beekeepers. They had a hard time finding supplies of their own so they decided to start a supply business. And then it grew to where they moved it into town here, purchased this building, and we’ve since added on multiple times to accommodate all the manufacturing that we do here,” Prososki said. “They lived here, they loved the area and chose to start their business and keep their business here,” she said. Page 28 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
Nancy Vogt / Echo Journal
Besides realizing the need for quality supplies for hobby beekeepers, the Thomases recognized no one was serving the commercial beekeeping industry. That included beekeepers who run 5,000, 10,000 and more hives, and who were part of the migratory beekeepers servicing crops that needed pollination. “So they made it a goal to be the one-stop shop for those beekeepers, and that is what really launched the company and allowed it to grow,” Prososki said. Jack Thomas died in September 2018, and the then employee-owned company was sold that year to Grey Mountain, a private equity firm. The company’s name was changed from Mann Lake Ltd to Mann Lake Bee & Ag Supply in 2021.
Mann Lake today
The company now has other locations that serve a good concentration of commercial beekeepers. The first was Woodland, California, where bees are used to pollinate almond crops. Prososki said using bees to pollinate crops like almonds, watermelons, blueberries — any large scale commercial crop that needs pollination — is as big or bigger than the honey business. Both the California and a Texas location have a full distribution center and store, just like in Hackensack. A Mann Lake facility in Kentucky houses a distribution center and manufacturing. It was Kelley Beekeeping, which Mann Lake purchased in 2019. Mann Lake also has store locations in Pennsylvania and Florida. The company employs about 400 nationwide.
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This is the entrance to the Mann Lake Bee & Ag Supply store in Hackensack, shown on Aug. 16, 2023, where people can buy beekeeping equipment. Nancy Vogt / Echo Journal
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Though the majority of its business is in the United States, Mann Lake has dealers across the world, including in Europe, South America, Australia and Japan. There’s no plan to move Mann Lake’s headquarters from Hackensack. “I think it’s a common rumor that goes around. … Every year we hear it, especially around this time of year when we’re coming up into our slower time,” Prososki said. “But no, there’s no intention of moving outside of Hackensack. Just the movement of all the manufacturing alone would be quite the undertaking.” Minnesota and North and South Dakota are the nation’s top honey producing states, so being based in Minnesota makes sense for commercial beekeepers, she said. While the company has seen growth in the past 10 years of acquiring other companies and adding employees, the Hackensack facility has undergone its own growth with building additions that include warehouse, wood plant and feed manufacturing facilities. In 2019, Mann Lake acquired the Pine River company Stromberg’s Chicks and Game Birds. And that year it opened a company store where people can buy beekeeping and other products. Today, company goals include growing the business-tobusiness side, continuing to ensure the company offers all products a beekeeper would need, and staying innovative and offering new products. To that end, this year, Mann Lake launched a new feed
for honeybees. The next closest beekeeping supply store is Nature’s Nectar in Stillwater, which resells Mann Lake Bee & Ag products. A network of dealers throughout the United States is listed on a map on the Mann Lake website at mannlakeltd.com. “A lot of hardware stores and your Fleet Farms have started carrying very small sections of beekeeping supplies, but it’s not your comprehensive store like you would get from coming to our store here in Hackensack or visiting Nature’s Nectar in Stillwater,” Prososki said. “It’s a really niche industry.” Mann Lake is looking to grow into that business-tobusiness segment, supplying its products to smaller local stores. “That is an adventure that we are just getting started in,” she said. Another targeted growth area is through Amazon. Currently, the majority of Mann Lake’s business is through its website and shipping, or customers who call and get their products shipped to them. That’s especially true for the hobby beekeeping side of the business. Prososki became a hobby beekeeper herself because of her job. Her hives are in her home garden in Pine River. “If I know these products, it’s going to help me sell these products or answer questions about these products,” she said of her decision to try beekeeping when she started 11 years ago in sales at Mann Lake.
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NUTRIENT-PRODUCING MICROBES WIN OVER MINN. FARMERS, BUT SKEPTICS DOUBTFUL By Dan Gunderson | MPR News MOORHEAD — On his south-central Minnesota farm, Colin Wegner adds bacteria to the corn seeds he plants, and cuts back on the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer traditionally applied to corn. The live bacteria are selected for their ability to pull nitrogen out of the air. “They live on the corn roots; the corn root releases sugars and carbohydrates throughout the growing season,” Wegner said. “And what the microbes do is they convert nitrogen out of the atmosphere, and they convert it to plant-available ammonia.” Wegner is a fifth-generation farmer, and he’s so convinced microbes are the future of farming that he became a sales representative for Pivot Bio, the company that makes the bacteria he uses on corn.
Symbiotic process
The early 1900s discovery of a process to create synthetic nitrogen fertilizer revolutionized agriculture. But the process has a big carbon footprint, using large amounts of natural gas. And nitrogen fertilizer applied to soil but not used by plants can leach into water or turn into nitrous oxide gas and escape into the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide accounts for only a small fraction of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, but according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the impact of 1 pound on warming the atmosphere is 265 times that of 1 pound of carbon dioxide. There are billions of bacteria in soil. Some already produce nitrogen in a symbiotic relationship with plants such as beans and other legumes. Companies are identifying and reproducing the best nitrogen producers to add to corn and other crops. Some are genetically edited to enhance nitrogen production. “We know that our microbes have the capability of producing perhaps 40 or more pounds nitrogen equivalent for most growers,” said Pivot Bio Vice President Dan Poston. “Our goal is constantly to move that number up with new and improved microbes.” Farmers are interested, and they’re buying. Pivot Bio released its first product in 2019, and this year the company reported that the microbes it sells were Page 32 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
Dan Gunderson / MPR News
Companies are identifying and reproducing the best nitrogen producers to add to corn and other crops.
used on 5 million acres across the U.S., while revenue grew 60%, surpassing $100 million. And Pivot Bio is only one of many companies entering this potentially lucrative market.
Skeptical analysis
But skeptics abound. Soil scientists at a number of universities across the Midwest tested some of the bacteria supplements. “So it turned out that the performance wasn’t all that great,” said Dave Franzen, an extension soil specialist at North Dakota State University. Franzen authored a paper compiling research on nitrogen-producing bacterial supplements at a dozen Midwestern universities. “I think the most important thing for farmers to get out of it is, don’t believe everything you hear,” he said. Franzen tried to buy nitrogen-producing microbes to test last year, and the products were sold out. He was shocked farmers were so quick to go all in on what he believes is an unproven technology. “How could you do this without seeing some kind of really positive research from people where their retirement program isn’t tied to this? But they bought it all up. And that was crazy,” he said.
f
Franzen tells farmers if they want to try biological replacements for fertilizer, they should first rigorously test the product on their farm. He hopes these products will be successful but said the data just doesn’t support the benefits companies are claiming. “I understand the skepticism,” said Pivot Bio’s Poston, who suggested that as the industry developed there were challenges. “Where you’re trying to deliver living organisms to the field. And a lot of that inconsistency and kind of doubt or skepticism has come from the fact that in hindsight, we realize that a lot of these things have not made it to the field alive,” he said. The bacteria needs to be kept within a specific temperature range, and it doesn’t have a long shelf life. Poston said those supply chain issues have been resolved. The company pushed back against the article authored by Franzen, saying in a blog post that the research was poorly designed and the article showed “a misunderstanding of what Pivot Bio is striving to achieve and why more and more growers are replacing synthetic fertilizer with our technology.” Franzen stands by the research and analysis, but said much more research is needed to understand how the very complex soil microbiome works and how it reacts to added microbes.
Page 34 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
Contributed / Colin Wegner
Colin Wegner stands in front of farming equipment with his son Cash during spring planting at their farm in Wells, Minnesota.
Pivot Bio points to reams of data it says proves the product works, and shows that farmers like Colin Wegner reduced nitrogen fertilizer use with no loss of crop yield. But that might be the result of good marketing, said University of Minnesota associate professor Daniel Kaiser, who has also tested the nitrogenproducing bacteria.
The bacteria can cut back on the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer traditionally applied to corn.
“These companies know that most growers are already a little aggressive on their nitrogen, that they can cut back, put the product on and still get the same yield. But it doesn’t necessarily prove that the product works,” he said. Kaiser also urges farmers to test the products in carefully designed trials on their farm before using the products broadly. “Because some of these claims are pretty fantastical in terms of what some of these things can do,” Kaiser said. “You’ve got to be careful with some of this and just not trust it.” Companies are also selling microbes to help suppress crop diseases. Kaiser said there’s little regulation of the rapidly expanding industry, which he worries could lead to companies selling modified products that might have negative environmental effects. But the ag industry is ripe for change as farmers feel pressure to be more sustainable. “You see a lot of interest right now, especially with a lot of the emphasis on sustainability and environmental stewardship,” Kaiser said. “[Farmers are] trying to figure out what is out there that can help us better manage nitrogen.” Colin Wegner believes microbes are a key to the future of farming. “It’s really fun and cool to be, in my opinion, on the front end of a really large change in agriculture and see it happening,” he said. “And I’m really excited to see what
Dan Gunderson / MPR News
farming looks like in 10 to 20 years. I think there’s going to be drastic shifts in production agriculture.”
November 2023 – West Central Tribune – Page 35
Attendees of a dung beetle workshop investigate a cow pie on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, near Pine River, Minnesota. Michael Johnson / Agweek
DUNG BEETLES PLAY AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN YOUR PASTURE’S ECOSYSTEM By Michael Johnson | Agweek PINE RIVER, Minn. — On a cloud covered August afternoon, a group of about 20 farmers, ranchers, scientists and just plain curious folks had their eyes to the ground as they shoveled through cow pie after cow pie. “Pick up the crust, flip it over … if it moves grab it,” Roger Moon explained as the group dug in around him. Moon knows cow pats and what resides in them better than most after more than 40 years of research work on the steamy subject. Moon is professor emeritus of veterinary entomology with the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences in St. Paul. The attendees searched through three different paddocks on the rotational pastures owned by Thomas Stattelman of the Stattleman Angus Ranch outside of Pine River. Each of the paddocks were grazed about a week apart and those digging into the dung could catch a glimpse of what critters remained in each of the aging cow pies. “If you can find like one of these little balls, pick it up,” Moon said unabashedly holding some dung with his bare hands. “It’s easy to see the burrowing holes in the bottom Page 36 – West Central Tribune – November 2023
and that’s a sign that dung beetles are working that dung and taking it down into the soil below. That’s a good thing. “Look for the signs of insects even if you can’t find the insects,” he added. “Holes mean beetles, basically.” The presence of beetles, which eat and carve out caverns through the drying dung, means that the dung is being processed. The beetles help to break up that dung faster than it would without them. That’s important on these pastures. The dung needs to break up and absorb into the soil so the ground is clear of manure and free to go back to growing a plethora of forage for the cattle. Attendees like Kelly Anderson, a grazing and livestock specialist with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, dug in and began finding some dung beetles, their tunnels — and a whole lot of other creatures. Maggots, earthworms, various flies and larvae all were finding a meal among the “meadow muffins,” as Moon affectionately calls them. “This one is probably old enough that a fly or something came in, laid an egg, and the larvae has already hatched and flown away,” Anderson said. While the average person, including many on this tour, don’t put much
thought into what goes on in a cow patty, Anderson admits she has spent considerable time on the subject. In her work with the Department of Ag, she researches cattle that are put out onto public land. It’s key that the cattle are not going out with chemicals in their dung that may be harmful to the insects there, including pollinators. She was able to nab one dung beetle while out. They are dodgy little bugs and able to scurry undercover in a hurry. While some bugs, like the dung beetle, were there to eat dung, others were there to tunnel through in search of larvae to eat. No matter their reasoning, they were breaking up the dung, and that’s a sign of a healthy pasture. With 110 cow-calf pairs and with the cattle each defecating about once every 2 hours, it doesn’t take long to amass quite a bit of manure at the Stattelman Ranch. While fewer bugs are often a positive for people, it’s a sign of deficiency in a pasture, Moon explained. He made note of one key early on in the discussion that the timing of dewormer in a herd can make a difference. Several attendees, such as Dayle Reinke, of rural Wadena, noted that they use a dewormer around Thanksgiving for their rotationally-grazed cattle. Doing so then means it will run its course through the herd long before grass starts to grow again. Moon explained that using a dewormer while the grass is growing is a good way to kill off populations of dung
beetle, which follow behind the herd. He suggested avoiding treatments in the summer but that Moxidectin was the safest treatment for dung beetles. In any case, he suggested testing worm eggs per gram to determine of a herd treatment is needed. Stattelman understands that microorganisms are important. He does not use any commercial fertilizer and has not sprayed any chemical on the pastures in the last six years. He said he uses no fly control, either. “It’s about as all-natural as you can get here,” Stattelman said. He’s the third generation of the Stattelmans to work this land. His operation includes about 850 acres of rolling hills with a smattering of trees to shade the herd. He moves his cattle roughly every week, with a total of about 16 paddocks. He calves in the spring and sells the calves in the fall. There were a few surprises on the tour. “Honestly I didn’t even know we had dung beetles,” Stattelman said. He said he now understands better their importance to the cattle grazing cycle. After collecting specimens from the pasture, the group returned to the ranch and sorted through the bugs. Moon talked about what they were seeing and what that might mean. He gave the findings a good grade. The event was hosted by the Crow Wing River Basin Forage Council, a networking group of the Sustainable Farming Association.
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