Winnebago Waterways 2023 Farmer Roundtable Highlights Local Conservation

On February 15^th 2023, farmers and watershed partners gathered for the second annual Winnebago Waterways Farmer Roundtable at Brighton Acres in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Hosted by Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, events like this provide opportunities for farmers in the Winnebago Waterways Recovery Area to come together and learn from each other. The goal is to increase adoption of conservation practices like cover crops, no-till, low disturbance manure applications, grazing and other innovative farming methods.

Aaron Augustian, farmer at Augustian Farms in Kewaunee County, kicked off the event with a keynote presentation about his experiences with integrating soil health practices into his farm’s operation. He openly shared the hurdles he faced as well as the many ways his farm has benefited from consistent use of soil health practices to his soils, operation, and bottom line.

The 107 attendees then split into two groups to hear from other farmers during the breakout sessions. Rick Gehrke, who farms 900 acres with his dad in Winnebago, Waushara, and Green Lake Counties, spoke about how he uses cover crops to meet his farm’s goals. He was followed by presentations from Matt Brugger (Tilth and UFW Demo Farms) and Matt Rataczak (NRCS) who walked farmers in attendance through some things to consider when choosing cover crop mixes.

Rachel Bouressa, farmer at Bouressa Family Farm in New London, talked about how farmers can incorporate grazing into cash grain operations. Rachel and Derrick Raspor (NRCS and UFW Demo Farms) then presented on various considerations and opportunities for farmers to get started.

Lunch was a delicious BBQ buffet catered by La Sure’s – their food is always something worth looking forward to! After a good meal and conversation, Eric Lind who is a cash grain farmer out of Tustin, presented with Matt Brugger about how to bring it all together to integrate conservation practices into a soil health system. They then walked farmers through how to plan for incorporating the soil health practices into an existing operation.

An afternoon cookie and coffee break had everyone perked back up for the afternoon farmer panel. The panel consisted of Chris Pollack (Pollack-Vu Dairy in Ripon), Jim Luedtke (Dreamhaven Cattle in Outagamie & Winnebago Counties), Matt Hintz (Hintz Farm, LLC in Amherst), and Tony Peirick (T & R Dairy in Watertown). The moderators then hosted a series of rapid-fire presentations from several groups to showcase people and resources available to farmers for soil health practices, including:

• Tony Peirick from Dodge County Farmers spoke about starting and benefits of a farmer led group
• Randy Zogbaum who talked about DATCP resources for farmer-led groups
• Paul Jarvis who gave updates from the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association
• Tricia Verville from the Sand County Foundation
• Julie Peterson from Pheasants and Quail Forever who spoke about the programs they offer
• Matt Brugger and Derrick Raspor from the Upper Fox-Wolf Demo Farm Network
• Introductions of conservation staff from several counties including Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, Calumet, Fond du Lac, and Outagamie Counties
• Justin Loehrke who talked about Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance and our initiatives

Attendees were then rewarded after a long, but informative day with drink tickets and snacks at the Brighton Acres bar. The event was well attended, with over 107 people showing up to learn about local farm innovations in conservation!

We are already looking forward to planning next roundtable for 2024. A huge thanks goes out to our planning team, exhibitors, speakers and sponsors for helping to make the event a success! If you are interested in sponsoring or helping to plan the 2024 event, please reach out to Korin at korin@fwwa.org.