The Krusenbaum Farm: A Case Study and Model in the Establishment of an Organic Dairy Farm

Several instruments have been used to achieve the first two objectives of the project. A journal methodology which involves daily recording of agronomic activities, rainfall, and decision making has been developed and is used to provide information on key variables. Interviews with the Krusenbaums enriches this approach and is used extensively by the team rural sociologist to understand the reasons behind certain decisions and record the sources of new information. Consultation is the primary mode of interaction with the Krusenbaums in discussions regarding complex issues like weed control strategies, the design of a crop rotation, comparing alternative manure management strategies, or wrestling with the decision to initiate rotational grazing. Field sampling is the approach used in monitoring weed populations and species, earthworm numbers, and evolving soil fertility levels. Sampling takes place each spring (April 15 May 5) at 33 permanent sites which represent various cropping histories, rotations and soil types on the farm. Computer spreadsheets aid with general financial record keeping (AAIMS) and data compilation in the nutrient cycling study, as well as herd performance monitoring (DHIA).

Objective One: On Farm Monitoring

a. Herd Productivity:
The rolling herd average (RHA) has been increasing quickly from an initial level of approximately 15,000 lbs RHA (38 cow herd) to 19,100 RHA by the end of the third year (48 cow herd). We are expecting annual production levels to stabilize or increase at a slower rate in 1993 (see Figure 1). Reproduction management has also steadily improved and the average number of days open has dropped from 130 days to around 100 days. Purchased feed costs for the past two years have varied from $300 to $370/cow, indicating that the farm is nearly self sufficient and producing high quality feed. Typical purchased feed costs in Wisconsin for a herd at 18,000 lbs RHA is approximately $430/cow (State wide AAIMS 1991 data).

The introduction of rotational grazing in 1992 was highly successful. Estimated dry matter off take from the paddocks was higher than on the three cut hay fields (3.3 vs. 2.5 tdm/a) and the feed was of excellent quality (see Figure 2). Feed costs excluding self harvested forage per hundredweight equivalent of milk dropped dramatically from $7.11 in 1991 to $4.85 in 1992. This reduction was primarily due to the six months of rotational grazing on 35 acres.

Nutrient monitoring data mirrors the economic data and indicates that while herd consumption is increasing, so is nutrient self sufficiency. As can be seen on Table 1, while herd N, P and K intake has almost doubled over the three year period, on farm production has kept pace and actually increased in relative importance. The two primary reasons are the high quality of the rotationally grazed paddocks, and the decision to grow and feed sunflowers and soybeans.

Veterinary and medicine bills however, have been unexplainably high ($100 $120/cow). It is anticipated that as herd numbers and management become constant, this expense will drop to less than $80/cow. While neither the feed nor the medical program is purely organic, the Krusenbaums and the monitoring team are satisfied with the progress they are making toward developing an organic dairy. There is a growing realization that good herd management, as defined by the University specialists, and the precepts of organic dairying are more similar than different.

b. Field Productivity:
Applying organic principles to the crop enterprises has proven more difficult than to the dairy enterprise. Yields from the first three years of production are summarized on Table 2. Some of the difference between target yields and actual yields has been due to below average rainfall in 1991 and 1992. Availability of nutrients is, however, also an issue. For all practical purposes the farm went "cold turkey" with respect to added nutrients the first year. Only a little urea was purchased for the wheat (20 lb/a) and 86 tons of manure for part of the new oat/alfalfa seeding (10 t/a). In 1991 the farm had 743 tons of stacked manure for spring spreading on corn and 875 tons in 1992. The manure was applied at the rate of 25 t/a or at a lighter rate (10 t/a) and then topped up with urea (120 lb/a). Potash has also been applied at the rate of 160 lb/a to new seedings. Initial soil tests indicated that potassium would be an important consideration as 78% of the 33 monitoring stations registered low to very low in potassium (<90 ppm). On the other hand, as is typical for many dairy farms, all the stations were high to very high in phosphorous (x=175 ppm). Mild potassium and nitrogen deficiencies symptoms have been seen in the field during the first three seasons contributing to relatively slow plant growth, aggravating weed control problems.

In addition to a minimum of fertilizer, insecticides are not being used on the farm. Production losses have been modest due to the use of crop rotation on the corn acres and harvesting dates for leaf hopper on alfalfa. Weed control without chemicals however, has remained difficult. Foxtails, lambsquarter, pigweed and velvetleaf are the most common weeds. While actual yield losses due to weeds have been estimated at less than 10%, most row crops have been rotary hoed three times and cultivated twice. The time required for these activities has resulted in delayed hay harvesting and put additional stress on the farm family. In the Spring of 1994 the weed seed bank at the 33 permanent stations will be sampled to see if the potential for weed infestation has increased, decreased or remained the same since ending the use of herbicides in the Spring of 1990.

A component of the long term sustainability of the cropping system will be developing a nutrient equilibrium between crop off take and additions. The annual whole farm nutrient field balances are presented in Table 3. These budgets were built by measuring crop off take (and doing tissue analysis for N, P, K content), and measuring nutrient inputs (manure and fertilizer additions). In addition, biological nitrogen fixation was estimated as supplying 60% of the nitrogen in alfalfa protein removal and 40% of the nitrogen in the soybean off take. Finally, the amount of nitrogen estimated to be left in the root nodules following alfalfa is 130 lbs/a and 40 lbs/a following soybeans. The field budgets for 1991 and 1992 are nearly in equilibrium for phosphorus and potassium, indicating there would be little change in average soil test values. The apparent build up in nitrogen in 1992 of +14 lb/a is misleading. The budgets don't include field losses of nutrients after application. Forty percent of the nitrogen added to the fields in 1992 was as manure from the pasturing animals where actual nitrogen volatilization losses would be high. In addition, on these mixed grass and alfalfa paddocks, it is unlikely that any of the "excess" nitrogen would get to the groundwater due to the high nitrogen demand and good rooting pattern under sod.

Another aspect of the field monitoring has been the study of the effect of adopting an organic production philosophy on long term soil fertility and structure parameters. Soil sampling for chemical characteristics (N, P, K, pH, O.M.) was conducted in the Spring of 1990 and 1991 and for physical characteristics (aggregate stability) in the Summer of 1992. Aggregate stability (percent water stable aggregates from the 1mm - 2mm size class) is a soil structural parameter which indicates the relative resistance of soil aggregates to break down into basic soil particles. The values for most soils on the Krusenbaum farm were low, and thus indicated generally poor soil structure in many of the fields. Aggregate stability was highest in permanent pastures and in the tilled fields there was a general trend of higher values with increased frequency of forages in the recent cropping sequence (Table 4). It was estimated that on certain parts of the farm, land that had been cleared of forest after World War II had already experienced the loss of more than 15 inches of top soil. Aside from these areas, the rest of the farm showed signs of moderate erosion, severe soil compaction along the headrows, and poor water run off management (inadequate grass waterways, lack of gutters on the barn and grass filter strips around the barnyard). Contour strips were installed on the steepest slopes, a sod based rotation was adopted for the entire farm, permanent sod headlands were established, grass waterways were widened and barnyard run off was directed to an area of permanent sod. In the Spring of 1994 soil samples will be taken again at all 34 permanent stations to monitor the changes that have occurred in soil chemical characteristics over the first four year period. Physical characteristics will again be measured in 1996.

c. Labor Monitoring:
In 1992 a labor diary was initiated. Dairy chore labor was 89.5 hr/cow. This does not include manure handling from the windrows (which was charged to the corn production activity 102 hrs), nor pasture management labor of 475 hours (this includes approximately 100 hours of fence building etc). Once the pasture management became routine it took between 4 and 10 hours a week (see Figure 3). The animals were moved two times each day. The heavy labor weeks in August were due to the time required to put up temporary fencing as the summer drought continued and the animals were grazed outside of the rotational grazing paddocks on hay fields. Typical of other dairy farms in Wisconsin the corn enterprise consumed 5.03 hr/a, the hay enterprise 7.5 hr/a, the soybean enterprise 3.27 hr/a, and the small grain enterprise (seeding year oats/alfalfa) 7.5 hr/a. The labor diary is being continued for a second year.

d. Decision diary:
The decision diary has been useful in evaluating the project team's input into the decision making process on the farm. Analyses have been made over the past three years on nearly one hundred management decisions deemed to be "significant" for the farm (decisions that involved substantial financial outlay or labor time and/or impacted significantly on the farm's conversion to organic status). Results indicate that the Krusenbaums have counted on the farmer members of the team for area specific decisions (e.g., machinery choices, cattle purchases), while the scientists' input (Michael Fields Institute and UW Madison) has been mostly for larger systems analysis decisions. The major exception to this pattern was the set of decisions in 1991 1992 to shift to the rotational and seasonal grazing of the dairy herd. Other grass based dairy farmers were the primary consultants for these systems level decisions. It is interesting to note that on several occasions the farm family did not follow the team's recommendations. The two most common reasons they gave were either the lack of available labor or that the recommendation would unacceptably delay their progress toward certified organic status. Issues of labor and family life style concerns played increasingly important roles in the Krusenbaum's decision making during the three years under investigation. An important consequence of the grazing decisions was the effective termination of the farm's cash grain enterprises.

e. Economic Monitoring:
This is discussed in Part 3.D (Economic Analysis).

Objective Two: Chronicle the Evolution of a Set of Coherent Low input Strategies

a. Developing a crop rotation:
Gradually the farm is developing a set of strategies to move in the direction of developing a profitable organic dairy. The two factors that dominated the design of a crop rotation were the herd feed needs and the farm landscape. Rather than keep the hilly areas attached to larger, level fields and therefore have no Highly Erodible Land (HEL), it was decided to put in contour strips (approximately 7 acres each) in these areas. These strips, plus the decrease in corn acres will reduce theoretical erosion rates (based on the Universal Soil Loss Equation) from 8t/a/yr to 3.4 t/a/yr. The downside of this decision is that now the SCS map of the farm includes HEL land and must follow a soil conserving rotation.

The three goals of the evolving crop rotation have been to meet the feed needs of the herd, having some cash crops to sell, and the use of few or no chemical inputs. A 7 phase rotation (o/a a a a c sb c) was planned for the 50 acres of "hill land" and an 8 phase rotation (o/a a a c sb c-(w/sb)-c), with more row crops, was initiated on the 150 acres of "flat land". The biological principles underpinning the rotation are: 1) having cereals following legumes; 2) rotating deep rooted and shallow rooted crops to draw up leached nutrients; 3) alternating summer annuals with winter annuals to reduce weed pressure; and, 4) keeping the ground covered as much as possible to prevent erosion and build up earthworm numbers through the use of conservation tillage and cover crops. The success of the 1992 experiment with rotational grazing on 34 acres of sod has led to the decision to expand the area to 62 acres in 1993. As a result, the rotation has been simplified to a 5 phase program (o/a a c sb c) that will be run simultaneously on five hill fields (avg.= 8.8 a) and the five flat fields (avg.= 17.8 a). Fall seeded cover crops (vetch, red clover, wheat) will be planted into the soybeans, and experiments will continue with sunflowers, and spring barley plus red clover as future options in the cropping plan.

b. An evolving manure management plan:
The medium for nutrient cycling on the farm is manure. Developing a nutrient conservative, low cost, and low labor management strategy for this key input has been a struggle. The initial daily haul system to windrows and subsequent spring spreading on corn ground had several disadvantages. The daily haul system took a minimum of 45 minutes a day, transporting the very wet manure resulted in significant nutrient losses, and spring spreading delayed planting and caused severe soil compaction. At the end of 1992 a new manure management system was installed on the farm to address both nutrient and labor problems. The new system consists of a cement storage pad installed behind the dairy barn that holds up to 90 days of manure. The gutter cleaner was extended directly out of the barn to a height of 14 feet over the pad. A grated sump and pump system was installed to collect excess urine as the manure rises up the ramp and store this liquid in an above ground 11,000 gal metal tank (Total cost $13,000). Daily labor is greatly reduced since other chores can now be done while the gutter cleaners are working, and transporting time for the manure is concentrated in only a few days, when weather conditions are good. The manure is much drier when being moved and the manure tea (30 lb K2O/1000 gals; 20 lb available N/1000 gals) will be a potassium source for the alfalfa sod. Manure spreading from the windrows will also now be concentrated in the fall, on old alfalfa sod where soil compaction will not be a problem. This will free up time in the spring when other field chores must be done. It is expected then, that this system should partially mitigate the drudgery of barn chores, alleviate the spring labor bottleneck, reduce soil compaction, and improve potassium recycling. These issues will continue to be monitored in the future.

c. Debt management:
The Krusenbaums have resisted high interest unsecured loans such as accounts payable at vendors (18%) and have planned borrowing from agencies such as FmHa and the Commodity Credit Corporation (8.5% interest rates) to meet their capital needs. Also with the drop in milk prices in early 1991, the family decided to decrease their fixed costs per productive unit and increased their herd size from 37 to 48 cows. These decisions, plus the willingness to re evaluate their machinery purchases indicate a conservative and measured approach toward building up their business.

d. Animal feeding strategy:
The animal feeding strategy has been a management intensive "comprehensive topdressing" or "component feeding" program. Once maintenance needs are met with the forages (corn silage, alfalfa hay and haylage), additional energy, protein, salt and minerals, and vitamins are individually fed to the animals based on expected milk production. Due to the lack of an actual premium for organic milk and the difficulty in finding a processor that would guarantee the roasted beans to be the same beans delivered for processing, the family decided in 1991 to sell their soybean crop and buy cheaper cotton seed and soybean meal for the ration. From a financial point of view, this approach to feeding the herd has been quite successful. As was shown in Figure 1, the RHA is increasing and total feed costs per hundredweight in 1991 only represented 47% of the milk price. This is in the typical range of 40 50 percent.

In 1992 a major decision was taken to experiment with rotational grazing. The potential advantages of this system include:
1. the animals harvest most of their summer forage needs reducing the use and repair of tractors, haying equipment and mechanized feeding equipment;
2. if well managed, the animals get a very high quality spring and summer diet reducing the need for protein supplements;
3. herd health can be maintained and improved;
4. summer labor can be both reduced and becomes more pleasant as haying and feeding time is replaced by simply moving fences and cattle;
5. summer manure, instead of being "wasted" on a low feed value exercise pasture, is deposited over productive paddocks.

Some potential disadvantages were also obvious:
1. a new technology had to be learned by trial and error;
2. inclement weather could adversely affect paddock and herd productivity (hot weather would effect the animals' appetites and productivity, wet weather would affect the longevity of the stand and animal health);
3. taking land out of the sod/grain crop rotation to put into permanent rotational grazing would further limit the potential to produce cash grain crops.(1) Basically it meant that the farm would only specialize in dairy production.

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Note 1: For example, in the 1992 rotation plan there would be annually 114 acres in corn, soybeans and wheat. With the expansion to 62 acres of rotational grazing in 1993, the new rotation will only include 79 acres of corn and soybeans.
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As reported earlier, the grazing experiment was a success. It took about 120 hours to install the fences and waterers and cost $3,000. Milk production remained high during the grazing months and feed costs per hundredweight equivalent of milk dropped dramatically from $7.11 in 1991 to $4.85 in 1992. Also in 1992 sunflowers were grown for the first time on a 3 acre plot. Due to their high oil content (45%), moderate protein content (20%), and palatability, they make an excellent homegrown feed supplement by providing a high level of energy while maintaining a favorable protein content in the ration. In 1992 the soybeans were not sold for cheaper cotton seed meal but "banked" at the local coop and re imported on to the farm as roasted beans. All three of these changes are making the farm more self sufficient in feed and permitting the Krusenbaums' to approach their goal of organic certification.

In 1993 the area in grazing was increased to 62 acres and sunflowers were planted on 11 acres. The family intends to take further advantage of the rotational grazing concept and begin seasonal milking. They will initiate this system rapidly by auctioning off some of their out of phase animals in the winter of 1994 and have their herd calving in time for the pasture flush in April of 1994. Monitoring of these important changes in milk production strategy will continue.

Objective Three: The development of educational materials

Several approaches are being taken to inform the public about the results from this case study. Newspaper articles have been written, field days held and extension publications are being prepared. These are covered in more detail below under section 3.B (Dissemination of Findings) of this final report format.