Proceedings available at: http://www.extension.org/67592 This workshop will focus on how dairy farmers in Wisconsin evaluate the risk of nutrient and sediment loss on their operations and what best management practices are adopted to reduce these risks. Dennis will describe how farm families evaluate all the risk factors facing their operation (weather, production, marketing, labor, safety and environmental risks) and discuss how a farmer has to balance the risk and rewards for each of these challenges. It is helpful to gain an appreciation for the numerous challenges farmers face on a daily basis and the amount of time committed to the evaluation and implementation of soil and water best management practices on each farm. Conservation practices are often applied in a "one size fits all" approach and are not developed and implemented to fit the needs of each farming operation. The large diversity of both farming systems and physical settings require a collaborative evaluation and implementation process between producers and conservation technicians to develop economic, effective, and practical conservation practices to fit the specific circumstances of individual farming operations.

1. Dennis Frame,
UW Discovery Farms

2. In – Stream Monitoring (20 site years)
Edge-of-Field Monitoring (98 site years surface, 47 tile)
 Riechers
◦ 3 surface; 7 years
 Soaring Eagle Dairy
◦ 1 surface; 3 years
 Saxon Homestead Farm
◦ 3 tile, 4 surface; 7 years
 Braggers
◦ 2 stream; 7 years
 Heisners
◦ 2 stream; 1 EOF; 3 years
 Brenemans
◦ 2 sites; 3 years
 WI Buffer Initiative
◦ Opitz
◦ 2 sites; 3 years
◦ Knigge
◦ 2 sites; 3 years
◦ Bragger
◦ 2 sites; 3 years
 Koepke
◦ 2 tile & 1 surface; 7 years
 Pagel’s
◦ 2 tile, 2 surface; 6 years

3. Factors influencing runoff / infiltration
A. Soil type (clay soils had highest runoff 12-13%)
(sandy soils only ran off during snowmelt)
1) Cannot change your soil type
2) Timing and amount of tillage
3) Install tile to remove excess water
a) Saw less sediment in tile with newer systems

4. Factors influencing runoff / infiltration
B. Crop stage of development
1) Key factor, but uncontrollable
C. Soil quality (soils with high organic matter)
1) Leave residue to build organic matter
2) No-till, sometimes not an option – vertical tillage,
3) Deep tillage, shatter confining layer

5. Factors influencing runoff / infiltration
D. Surface roughness
1) Residue
2) Tillage
3) Manure application
E. Structural practices
1) Terraces
2) Check dams
3) Farming on the contour
F. Storm duration and intensity – wouldn’t it be nice

6. Factors influencing runoff / infiltration
G. Tiles flowing at or near capacity
1) Data from several of our sites indicated that surface
runoff was driven by tile capacity.
a) In some parts of WI, tiles are picking up groundwater.
These tiles run longer, have higher discharge levels and
can often be overwhelmed during high rainfall periods.
b) Improving tile systems can reduce surface runoff.
c) Critical to know where tile is, size of drainage area.
2) Depth to bedrock

7. Factors influencing runoff / infiltration
H. Snow cover and/or type of frozen ground
1) Snow depth/water is poor predictor of runoff
a) Spring runoff events are driven by sun intensity and
temperature.
i. Early melt periods the sun is less intense.
ii. Lots of snow at the end of March/April – high potential.
iii. Warm cloudy or foggy weather = slow melt.
2) We can provide producers with the risk of runoff (high,
medium or low), but we can never predict if a big
runoff event will occur.

8. Factors influencing runoff / infiltration
H. Snow cover and/or type of frozen ground
3) Rain on snow might drive runoff (depends on snow
depth, temperature and amount of rain).
4) But rain on frozen ground/little snow usually greatly
decreases the potential for manure to bond with the
soil.
i. Early frozen ground has open macropores that allow some
infiltration of manure.
ii. In late frozen ground after rains the macropores are filled
with ice which blocks any bonding with the soil.
5) All regulations/recommendations for winter manure
applications should be based on conditions, not
calendar dates!

9. Factors influencing runoff / infiltration
I. Soil moisture levels
1) Non-frozen runoff is driven by storm intensity and soil
water capacity – which can be evaluated by soil moisture.
2) The risk of runoff is greater when soil moisture is >30%.
a) Second highest risk period is May - June
b) Producers should evaluate soil moisture between 25-30%
and evaluate liquid manure applications which may influence
soil moisture (13,000 gallons = ½ inch).
3) Low soil moisture on clays = cracks and expansion of
macropores.
a) Evaluate ground before applying liquid manure on dry
soil, may require pre-tillage with surface applications.

10. 1. Reduce runoff (Ave = 2.5” or 8% of precip)
2. Reduce nutrients leaving fields
A. No-till:
1) Decreased runoff and sediment loss, but increased
dissolved P loss.
2) Average phosphorus loss in surface runoff was not less
than other sites (3.1 versus 2.0 lbs).
3) 82% of surface phosphorus loss was in the dissolved
form – how do we stop these losses?
4) No-till is part of the solution, it is not the only
solution.

11. B. Tile drainage systems
1) Big factor in Eastern Wisconsin.
2) Tile is often the major contributor of water to
streams/rivers and lakes.
3) Lack of mapping a challenge.
4) Breaks in tile contribute a significant source of
sediment and nutrients.

12. C. Nutrient application rates
1) Over applications of nutrients can generate significant
nitrogen losses.
2) Reasonable (8,000 gallons) of summer manure on hay
did not generate runoff even when followed by rain
within 30 hours of application.
D. Grazing systems have a tremendous potential for
nutrient/manure runoff from out wintering sites.
 Stocking density
 Location of overwintering paddocks is critical to protect
water quality.

13.  Large storms had a major impact on sediment
and nutrient losses from surface water.
◦ What do we do about storms that exceed the design
criteria?
 Grass waterways are critical.
◦ Very important in NE WI with clay soils, long slopes.
 Water movement in southwest Wisconsin can
be impacted by the layered bedrock geology.

14.  Lack of runoff (sand) – BMPs have to be
designed to reduce losses during snowmelt.
 Hobby farms can be a tremendous source of
sediment/nutrients. – ALL CONTRIBUTORS
NEED TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!

15.  Famers adopted changes based on their
beliefs, values and personal knowledge.
 Most farmers are aware of water quality
issues, but they believe their farming systems
are protective of the environment.
◦ To get adoption and changes on the land, you first
have to develop trust and respect with the
producer, be open to learn from them and
demonstrate that farms with similar systems have
losses.

16. Questions???
www.uwdiscoveryfarms.org