Agriculture Success Stories

Sturgeon Creek Farm - Doug Wilson

The Wilson family has been farming the rolling hillsides of Jackson County since 1831 before it was even Jackson County. Douglas is the sixth generation to farm this land bordered by Big Sturgeon Creek. He started farming with his grandfather, father, and younger brothers, and continues the tradition today by farming with his sons. He says their farm “feels like more than 500 acres when you are walking up the hillside.” Douglas is a retired agriculture teacher, Army Reserve veteran, and current Division of Conservation field representative for southeast Kentucky. “I grew up with 120 head of Angus cattle, a 22-sow feeder pig operation, 10 acres of corn, 15 acres of burley tobacco, 5,000 square bales of hay, a milk cow, and a mule.” Now the family raises about 40 cow-calf pairs of registered Angus, Hereford, and Black Hereford cattle, as well as the forages to feed them.

The Wilsons have weaned calves in a barn on a high ridge for many years, but no water was available, so the family hauled 400 gallons in a tank three or four times a week. They investigated running a water line, but the county water pipeline was more than a mile away and the terrain made the project cost prohibitive. So, Douglas installed gutters and a cistern at the barn to capture runoff from the roof.  “An inch of rain gives me 3000 gallons of water for the cattle.” That water is gravity fed to a tire waterer that is on a heavy use area and open to four pastures. “The 140,000 gallons of water that used to run off our feed barn and make a never-ending muddy mess all around the barn, now flows into our cistern and the area around the barn is dry. And now that this is installed, it will provide a lifetime of free water to our beef operation.” Although it was a large investment of money, it eliminates the time and fuel required to haul the water from the pond.  The installation of the watering system also allowed Doug to use a 20-acre pasture for fall grazing after the hay had been harvested that he hadn’t been able to use in the past because it lacked a water source.

For more information about the Sturgeon Creek Farm and their installation of the watering system, check them out on YouTube:

For more information about Kentucky State Cost Share, visit the link below, or your local conservation district:

Cost: $28,000

Cost share amount: $20,000

Load reduction per year: 745 pounds Nitrogen, 179 pounds Phosphorus, 130 tons sediment

Eden Shale - Large Bale

Eden Shale Farm was established in Owen County in August 1955 as a 960-acre research farm for the University of Kentucky. Farmers in more than thirty counties raised funds for the purchase of the farm by contributing one cent per acre of Eden Shale soil type they had on their own farms. The Kentucky Beef Network (KBN), an arm of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, assumed management of the farm in 2013. KBN operates the farm as a cow-calf operation with a herd of about 100 cows on 400 acres of pasture.

Dan Miller, Eden Shale Farm Superintendent, says when they took over management of the farm the winters were a battle with mud. “January and February were a mess with cows in belly deep mud.” The Eden Shale soil type has a high clay content and has naturally low infiltration rates and between animals, vehicle traffic, and freeze-thaw cycles, muddy fields were common and had to be reseeded every spring. In one field, the farm had six ring feeders that were refilled every three days to feed a group of about 30 head. With the assistance of Dr. Steve Higgins from University of Kentucky, they developed a best management practice that helped decrease mud, while also saving more than two hours a week in manpower. This innovative practice, a large bale feeder, is a concrete base self-feeder and hay storage area. The feeder holds 32 round bales and feeds the group of 30 cows for 50 days without a need to refill the feeder. Hay can be moved to this area for storage straight from the field without having to move it to storage and then again to the feeding structure during the winter.

“It works great for our production. We run out of stockpiled pasture in early January and then move the cows closer to the barn to calve in late February,” says Miller. In addition to saving time, they lose less hay. Miller says, “The typical loss from ring feeders is forty to fifty percent. With the large bale feeder, we don’t have hardly any wasted.” The savings from not having to reseed the pasture every year and in manpower has made this a favorite for Dan Miller.

To find out more about the large bale feeder, visit the Eden Shale website below:

Or check out the tour of the large bale feeder on YouTube:

Cost:

Large bale feeder $14,000

Savings of $5,000 per year in pasture renovation

Load reductions per year: 180 pounds of Nitrogen, 32 pounds of Phosphorus, and 20 tons of sediment.

Eden Shale - Fenceline

Eden Shale Farm was established in Owen County in August 1955 as a 960-acre research farm for the University of Kentucky. Farmers in more than thirty counties raised funds for the purchase of the farm by contributing one cent per acre of Eden Shale soil type they had on their own farms. The Kentucky Beef Network (KBN), an arm of the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, assumed management of the farm in 2013. KBN operates the farm as a cow-calf operation with a herd of about 100 cows on 400 acres of pasture.

With the help of Dr. Steve Higgins of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food, and the Environment, a safer, more efficient feeding system was developed by installing hay feeders along a fenceline. They developed multiple versions of the same practice so that there is an option available in the price range of any farmer. Eden Shale Farm Supervisor Dan Miller says it is so much easier and safer for the farmer and the cattle. “You don’t have to fight the hungry cows that are trying to get to the hay as you are trying to drive the tractor through the gate.” With the ability to feed two bales at a time from a gravel road along the fenceline, you don’t have to open gates or drive equipment through the field. “This is safer for people who are trying to feed in the dark in the winter and it keeps from tearing up the field and making ruts,” says Miller. Additionally, armoring of the feeding area with gravel or concrete leads to less mud and less wasted hay.

Miller adds, “Farmers want to use the portable hay rings, but they don’t move them around the field. Consider permanent infrastructure if you feed hay in the same location every year.”

Programs such as state cost share can also help with the cost of installing a fenceline feeder.

To find out more about fence line feeders, visit the Eden Shale website:

Or check them out on YouTube:

For more information about Kentucky State Cost Share, visit the link below, or your local conservation district:

Cost:

Fenceline feeder installation $1,300 to $4,100

State Cost Share based on 75% of actual cost of installation of approved practice

Load reductions per year: 115 pounds of Nitrogen, 12 pounds of Phosphorus, and 5.5 tons of sediment.

Magnolia Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Magnolia Cumberland Presbyterian Church is in the small town of Magnolia in LaRue County, Kentucky. When the church had the opportunity to purchase 54 acres across the street, they jumped on the opportunity to ensure the parish had the ability to grow in the future. It also gave them the opportunity to be good stewards of the land in their community and to demonstrate that stewardship to their neighbors and their local 4H and FFA members. A group of church members, including Kelly Flanders, assist in the operations of the farm.

When they purchased the farm, it hadn’t been maintained in a few years. “It was in rough shape” says Flanders. “The first thing we had to do was grow grass.” About 30 cow-calf pairs are raised each year on the 32 acres of pasture. The cattle had access to the stream and had denuded the feeding area of all vegetation. In 2017, the group began working with Mark Howell of the LaRue County Conservation District to install best management practices to help solve their problems. These practices were installed as part of a 319(h) Nonpoint Source grant from the Environmental Protection Agency through the Kentucky Division of Water.

They started by fencing the cattle out of the stream and developing a 550-foot-long trail and walkway leading to a heavy use area with an alternative water source.  This allowed the cattle to have access to clean water in two pastures, while also armoring the soil in the area where they feed to prevent soil erosion. At the barn, they installed roof gutters and diverted the water away from the holding area into a part of the pasture. “We feed mineral in the barn and with the cows coming and going, it was just mud,” Flanders said.

Now, he says the cows prefer to walk on the walkway since it is dry. “You can’t cover the whole farm in geotextile and rock, so they have to step off the path sometimes, but they stay on it when they can.”  With the addition of the armoring, they’re also able to scrape the manure off the path each spring and land apply it to the field where they cut hay. Since completion of these practices, the group has hosted a field day with about 100 attendees and a tour focused on Ohio River Restoration projects with about 75 individuals.

Cost:

Walkway with heavy use area $2500

Gutters $2300

Load reductions per year: 75 pounds of Nitrogen, 9 pounds of Phosphorus, and 5 tons of sediment.

For more information about the 319(h) grant program visit the Kentucky Division of Water page below:

For more information about the church, you can visit their website below:

Sisk Farms - Joseph Sisk

Joseph Sisk grows corn, wheat, and soybeans in southern Christian County and is the third generation to farm on that plot of land. He worked off the farm after graduating from the University of Kentucky but returned more than 20 years ago to farm with his father and raise his family. The Sisk family has never shied away from trying new things, including growing hemp and canola, or adopting precision agriculture. Joseph is very involved in the Corn Growers in his area and has served on the Kentucky Corn Growers Association Board, as well as the Kentucky Corn Promotion Council and the Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Authority.

More than 40 years ago, the Sisks had a problem with flooding on a portion of a crop field. With the assistance of the local USDA office, a graded waterway was added in the 1990s and helped solve their problems for a while. By the late 1990s, however, changes in the watershed were creating problems in the area again. Although the Sisk farm had changed to lower impact tillage, other farms had converted land from pasture to row crops and practiced bottom plowing methods that increased the amount of silt reaching this drainage. By 2004 the waterway was so silted in that rain events were pushing water out into the crop field again. In 2021 Joseph updated the project. They removed the silt to reestablish the original design volume while keeping the upslope intact. The changes have greatly improved the area and prevented loss of crops and field erosion during storm events.

Joseph said, “If there was one lesson I learned while working in an area where there was an older waterway design, watch out for rip rap breaks that damage equipment and scatter large rocks in the field.” Rip rap, large, interlocked stones to help control erosion, was a common design practice at the time, but wasn’t necessary in the update.

Listen to Joseph share about his farm, and the importance of Agriculture Water Quality Plans and getting involved in your community on the Kentucky Ag Matters podcast available here:

Cost of project: $8,000

• $5000 dozer work, $3000 mats and other supplies

• Constructed initially with cost share in the 1990s, but no outside funding during renovation in 2021

• 3400 feet long with an average width of 50 feet

Nutrient loss prevention: 3203 pounds of nitrogen per year, 983 pounds of phosphorus and 569 tons of sediment per year.

Jesse Horn

The Horn family bought a farm in Daviess County in 1957 and are still farming the same land together. Jesse Horn is the third generation to grow corn and soybeans on the land and works with his father Tim Horn. His grandfather, Herschel, still lives on the farm, but Jesse said his role is “supervisory”.

The Horns started using grassed water ways and implementing conservation practices more than 30 years ago. The family continues to reap the benefits of many years of care and recently decided to practice no-till and plant cover crops on all their 4,000 acres. After trying some different seed mixes with turnips, radishes, canola and others, they have settled on mainly using cereal rye. They apply 25 pounds of seed per acre, less than some recommend, but an amount that provides good cover and allows them to plant the next crop in the green without using herbicide. They use an air seeder attached to the combines, so they don’t have to make additional passes. Jesse says although the air seeder broadcasts the seed on top of the ground and may have a lower germination rate than a drill, he has a good stand in the valleys where the cover crop is needed most.

Jesse says planting cover crop is valuable for soil health, tilth and erosion control. “With cover crops, the water never gets a chance to accelerate in the field.” As a result, they’ve seen fewer washouts, the soil retains moisture, and they’ve decreased the amount of herbicide used. Since they plant in green cover crop, the stand acts as a weed suppressant and has resulted in fewer slugs in the soybean crop. He has also noticed that during dry periods, his corn doesn’t curl as early in the day as his neighbors.

“My dad was concerned that the time to refill the air seeders on the combines would be a negative and slow down harvest. Most farmers want to just keep pushing and don’t want to stop for anything when the combines are rolling” says Jesse.  However, he has found they can combine about 42 acres before they need to refill, and it only takes ten minutes. “It is a great time to stop and stretch, get a drink or snack and take a break.”

The Horns participate in the Conservation Stewardship Program with NRCS. They practice precision agriculture on their farm and payments from this USDA program have offset the cost of more technologically advanced equipment. They have also worked with The Nature Conservancy on a cover crop program.

You can hear Jesse Horn talk about cover crops on the Cover Crop Strategies podcast available here:

To find out more about The Nature Conservancy agriculture programs in Kentucky, click below:

Cost:

• Cover crop seed $9/acre

• Air seeding equipment $2/acre when amortized over 5 years

• Savings $20/acre in decreased herbicide usage

Load reductions per year: 5074 pounds of Nitrogen, 523 pounds of Phosphorus and 229 tons of sediment per year.

Imel’s Greenhouse - Kenny Imel

Kenny Imel is the owner of Imel’s Greenhouse in Greenup, Kentucky. He started the greenhouse business in the 1970s and has kept it growing as a family business since then. Although the family also raises cattle and mixed grass hay on their 129-acre farm, the real foundation is their greenhouses, Imel says. What started as one 28-by-48-foot greenhouse has grown to more than 20 buildings including seven greenhouses.

Imel’s Greenhouse originally started as a wholesale business, providing plants to local retail stores. But with the development of agrotourism in Kentucky over the past 20 years, their business model has changed, and retail sales have grown from 10 percent to 95 percent.

In addition to their greenhouse business, the Imels are very involved in their community and host events like an annual farm to table dinner, a fundraiser for the local 4H, FFA and McConnell House, which hosts hundreds of attendees. Their Christmas in the Country event helps raise money for the Greenup County Farmers Market. They also host a myriad of school groups with more than 2000 school kids visiting annually. Kenny says, “We plan to be here for the long term.”

As part of that long-term commitment, in May 2020, the Imels installed an ebb and flow bottom feed watering system in one of their greenhouses. The plants’ soil would normally filter water through rapidly if watered from above, but by using the bottom feed system, the plants hold water longer. Additionally, when watering from below, there is less damage to the flowers of the plants.

Before they installed the system, they were hauling 4,000 to 6,000 gallons of water a day to spray on their plants. With the new system, the Imels harvest water from their roof with a one-inch rainfall event capturing 12,000 gallons. The bottom feed system uses about 2,500 gallons a day, but it recycles the water so less is lost to waste. They received a grant of $40,000 from the Kentucky Ag Development Board to install the bottom feed tables. Additionally, they have been able to shift the job duties of two staff people from watering all day during the growing season. “I know it is an expensive investment, but I won’t build new greenhouses any other way,” Kenny said.

In addition to the savings on water and staff time, he says the plants are in better condition. “A person just can’t water evenly. This way the water comes up evenly for use by the plants and we have drip irrigation for the hanging baskets.”

There are also big savings for the family and for the environment in terms of nutrients. Since this is a recycling system, the Imels went from using 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of fertilizer down to about 250 pounds. These changes in water and fertilizer usage allowed the watering system to pay for itself in the first year.

For more information about the Imel Greenhouse, check them out on Facebook:

Cost:

Price of new bench watering system $80,000

Ag Development Funds $40,000

Annual Load Reduction: 320 pounds of Nitrogen, 240 pounds of Phosphorus

Loretto Motherhouse Farm

The Loretto Motherhouse has been a working farm since the Reverend Stephen Badin purchased the property in 1796. It became the home of the Sisters of Loretto in 1824 and has helped educate generations of teachers. Today, the property contains an art museum, historic chapel, long-term healthcare facility, and two retreat centers in addition to the land that is still managed as a farm.

Cody Rakes is the Director of Farm and Land for the Loretto Motherhouse. He and his wife Angela have managed the 788-acre farm for eight years. The farm has 188 acres planted in row crops and 174 acres operated as a cow-calf operation which supplies grass-finished beef to the Motherhouse residents and the community. The Loretto Motherhouse Farm hosts farmer field days and school groups from the local community numerous times throughout the year.

One of the many practices that Rakes uses on the farm is cover crops. Every acre that is row cropped gets some kind of cover crop planting. The species blend depends on what the field will be used for the following year. “If that field will be used for grazing, not followed by corn, we plant annual rye grass, but 90 percent of the fields get a mix of cereal rye, wheat, crimson clover, hairy vetch, turnip, radish, Austrian winter pea and rapeseed” says Rakes. He has found that the mix of seeds is easier to kill down than the weeds would have been without the cover crop, so they use less herbicide. He also plants cover crop for erosion control, forage and fertility. Rakes says, "I would rather use plants to capture nitrogen from the air than have to apply it chemically.” His soil tests have shown an average increase in total organic matter from 2.3 to 3.5 since they started cover cropping. And by testing the soil each year, Rakes says he can make better decisions about what to apply.

Fertilizer application recommendations for the highest yield on the farm were more than 200 units of Nitrogen, but Rakes applied 150 units, saving $14,000 last year in Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium products over the recommended application. Even with the lowered rates of application, he saw yields of about 200 bushels per acre of corn. “I am not chasing yield. I am chasing revenue” says Rakes. Although the cover crop seed and planting average cost is about $60 per acre, the fertilizer savings is $87 per acre, with an increasing average of soil fertility and better drought resistance. Rakes says, “There is no bonus for more nitrogen in your soil if the crops don’t take it up.”

Cover crop seeding at the Motherhouse Farm is done by a combination of an air seeder attached to the combine that broadcasts the smaller seeds while harvesting, and a seed drill that plants the larger seeds in a second pass. They have found the combination gives them the best stand of cover crop in a variety of weather conditions. There was a large investment in the equipment, but participation in field trials and a variety of programs helped offset the cost of those investments. Spring planting is done directly into the stand of cover crop after it has been sprayed with herbicide.

Rakes says, “There are drawbacks to cover cropping, but they are more mental than actual.” He has heard of problems with slugs and other pests, but believes they work out in the long term with crop rotation.

To find out more about the Loretto Motherhouse Farm visit their website at:

Loretto Motherhouse Farm also has videos available on One Good Idea about winter feeding and manure handling here:

Cost:

• $40/acre for seed, $20/acre for personnel

• $10,000 air seeder attachment for combine

• Equipment purchased as part of a cover crop trial with the Soil Health Partnership

• Cover crop is an available practice in state cost share and EQIP

Nutrient loss prevention from cover crop and conservation tillage: 807 pounds of nitrogen per year, 310 pounds of phosphorus and 146 tons of sediment per year.

Tallow Creek Farm - Harry & Karen Pelle

When the Pelle family started purchasing land in 1982, it was for a place to hunt. They didn’t set out to be tree farmers, but a passion for nature led them to learn more about how to maintain their property as a forest. Over time, the family purchased adjoining properties and today they own about 2000 acres and have multiple generations of the family living on the farm. Harry and Karen Pelle, the first generation of the group, say much of the property had been logged when they purchased it, but they worked with staff from the Kentucky Division of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Kentucky Division of Forestry and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop plans for how to improve the property for habitat and improve their timber stand.  Harry says, “Woodland owners are taking the long-term approach. They plan to keep the property for generations.”

When they recently purchased an adjoining farm, the new property had about 100 acres that was separated from the rest of the land by a creek. It doesn’t flow all of the time, but it does after rain and in the spring of the year. The previous owners had just driven across the creek bed, but Harry noticed the erosion it was causing. “That creek is cutting down about an inch or more a year, and that is increasing with the more intense rain,” he said. They were able to harvest standing dead and storm damaged trees and send them to a local sawmill to make a temporary bridge that would allow equipment to cross the creek. The 6x6” logs were put together in four-foot panels making a bridge about 20 feet long and nine feet wide. Since they don’t perform large-scale logging operations, they only needed a structure that would provide access for a tractor and log dolly.

The Pelles are the 2017 recipient of the Kentucky Leopold Conservation Award. You can read more about them at both websites here:

You can also hear about the farm and their Agriculture Water Quality Plan on the University of Kentucky YouTube Channel:

Cost:

$600 for hardware and milling

Load reduction per year: 43 pounds Nitrogen, 18 pounds Phosphorus, and 5 tons sediment

F.L. Sipes Farms

Fred L. Sipes started farming tobacco in the early 1990s on land that his family owned. As he acquired his own land, he began to diversify and now raises cattle, soybeans, corn, wheat, hay and produce. Today he farms 4000 acres in Meade and Breckinridge counties with his wife and twin sons. Sipes received a regional American Soybean Association Conservation Legacy Award in 2019 and the Sand County Foundation Aldo Leopold Award for Kentucky in 2021.

The area he farms contains lots of sinkholes and he uses practices like buffer strips and cover crops to help prevent erosion. On one of his rented properties in neighboring Breckinridge County, Sipes had a problem with gullies forming in the field where he planted corn and soybeans in rotation. Despite practicing minimum tillage, the hard spring rains often washed areas out and made crossing the field on equipment difficult. “Some of these ditches would get to be twelve or eighteen inches deep” says Sipes. It had been a problem for a few years, so in the spring of 2024 Sipes and his crew worked to regrade and reseed the area, installing almost 30 rolls of straw netting and grass seed. The netting helps hold the seed and moisture in place to allow the seed to germinate and the roots of the grass hold the soil in place.

The grassed waterway has prevented the soil erosion that had been occurring and prevented the loss of planted rows this spring. Sipes says he believes you should “leave it better than you found it” and repairing gullies and ditches is something farmers should do every spring. “Just like getting your planter ready.”

Read more about the Fred L. Sipes farm at the following links:

 Or check out his YouTube here:

Cost

The project cost $2,000:

$1,392 in materials and $605 in labor.

Load reduction per year – 12,373 pounds of Nitrogen, 4,241 pounds of Phosphorus, and 2,537 tons of sediment.

Benji Hudnall

Benji Hudnall and his family raise hogs and farm 1100 acres in the Riverside community of Warren County. His family has been farming the same plot of land for more than 160 years. “This farm has been in the family for generations and we plan on it being in the family for many generations into the future. Like other people invest in the stock market, we invest in our land” says Hudnall. This river bottom land has its challenges however, including frequent flooding in the winter and early spring. Hudnall noticed that each flood event was taking valuable soil and nutrients with it when the water receded.

In 2019, the Hudnalls enrolled 21 acres of the farm in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. This requires a 30-foot buffer between the edge of his row crop field and the stream. “My grandfather and father instilled in me the importance of natural resources and soil health,” says Hudnall. The buffer helps to ensure that no chemicals or fertilizer run off into the stream. Hudnall also uses precision agriculture equipment that allows him to shut off the sprayer when he is in the buffer area. “The edges of the field that are shaded by trees aren’t as productive and the large machinery is hard to drive under the limbs. This way I have guaranteed income from a less productive area while protecting the earth.”

In addition to his participation in CRP, Hudnall utilizes cover crops to prevent soil erosion during times of high water. He primarily uses a blend that is heavy with grasses like cereal rye and barley to establish a dense growth of roots to help hold the soil in place during the winter. “I farm on the Green and Barren rivers. When you can see the river every day, and you see how muddy it is after a rain event, it makes you realize how much soil is lost.”

Benji Hudnall was named the Kentucky Pork Producer Association Outstanding Producer and Farm Family of the Year, the Kentucky Young Farmer Association Member of the Year, and received the Warren County Conservation District Master Conservationist Award.

The Hudnalls were named the 2006 Warren County Chamber of Commerce Farm Family of the Year. Read more about the award by clicking here:

To find out more about the Conservation Reserve Program, visit:

Cost

• There is no cost for participation in CRP. The rental income for this farm is $160 per acre per year.

Load reduction per year for CRP and cover cropping

• 6,470 pounds Nitrogen, 2270 pounds Phosphorus, and 1163 tons of sediment.

Whispering Hills Farm

Mike and Tammy Wilson farm 197 acres in central Kentucky including farms in Anderson and Franklin counties. Their property includes a mix of forested land and pasture where they raise 30 beef cattle.

Their farm in Anderson County was purchased from an out-of-state owner who had inherited the property and had left it unattended for more than twenty years. The property was covered in thorns and cedars. The Wilsons spent years reestablishing forages on the pasture, removing invasive species and setting up the farm to raise livestock.

Their Anderson County farm is divided into 14 fields for rotational grazing. Each field varies in size from three to 18 acres, with a water supply in each field. With good weather conditions, Wilson moves the animals every couple of days once the grass has been eaten to about four inches. Fencing was installed to provide a 500-foot buffer to protect waterways and forests. It also provides habitat for wildlife, which they see on the farm every day. Water on his farm is supplied by municipal water using a four-hole waterer that is divided by a fence, so it serves two pastures.

Mike Wilson grew up on a dairy farm in Shelby County and learned rotational grazing while he was young. However, he says that the University of Kentucky courses for Master Grazer and Master Cattlemen helped drive home the message and gave him the initiative to do it on his own farm. Wilson says, “It is common sense to take care of your ground. It is too hard to reestablish once it is destroyed.”

Another benefit he has seen of rotational grazing, the pasture fields don’t often require costly inputs. “With proper management and rotational grazing, you shouldn’t have to buy fertilizer at all.”

While there is a cost to installing fence and waterers, many cost sharing programs are available including Kentucky State Cost Share, the County Ag Investment Program and NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Wilson admits, “I didn’t know about cost share when I started and paid for a lot of things out of pocket.” He has pieced together funding from a variety of sources to establish the system he has today.

Mike and Tammy Wilson are the 2024 winner of the Kentucky Leopold Conservation Award and Mike serves on the Anderson County Conservation District Board.

You can read more about the Wilson family and Whispering Hills Farm here:

Watch the Leopold Conservation Award video here:

He is also featured in a Kentucky Cattlemen’s video, as well as a story from the University of Kentucky available here:

More Links:

 Master Cattlemen 

 State Cost Share 

 County Ag Investment Program 

 Natural Resources Conservation Service 

Cost:

Each program provides reimbursement for practices in different ways. Reimbursement for State Cost Share is 75% of actual cost capped at $20,000. Their cost estimates for these practices are below.

Fence - $3 per linear foot

Waterer - $1600

Pipeline - $2.75 per linear foot

Load reductions per year:

• 377 pounds of Nitrogen, 56 pounds of Phosphorus and 33 tons of sediment per year.

David Dennis

David Dennis grows hay and cattle on 165 acres in Anderson County. David and his wife Kathy purchased the 40 acres in 1994 and have leased other farms over the years for hay production. Dennis has about 30 cow-calf pairs on his farm where he practices rotational grazing. He hired Eric Phillips as a teenager to help on the farm and now, 20 years later, they work together in a partnership.

When Dennis started farming this land, it was set up as a few large pastures. With the technical assistance of University of Kentucky Ag Extension Agent Tommy Yankey and Natural Resources Conservation Service staff, he learned there were better ways to manage the natural resources and get financial assistance to install practices. Over time, Dennis has divided the farm into nine smaller pastures, installed waterers for each pasture and a heavy use area for winter feeding. He also installed a stream crossing and a fence around his pond. He uses a grazing stick to determine when to move livestock on to the next pasture. Dennis believes rotational grazing “saves a lot of wear and tear on the pastures and cuts down on the hay that I have to have for winter feeding.”

The layout of the pastures has also made it easier to move cattle between fields and to bring them in to work them up. “I am better about giving vaccinations and breeding than I was before,” says Dennis, saying he doesn’t worry about running out of grass in the summer and, if weather is good, he can stockpile grass in some fields for late fall/early winter feeding.

Dennis also farms from a specially adapted John Deere 4020 tractor since a car accident left him paralyzed in 1986. He credits University of Kentucky AgrAbility with help in connecting him with Anderson County Community and Technical College faculty. The staff and students were able to modify his tractor and design a lift that allows him to cut hay and feed the cattle on his own.

David Dennis was selected as Anderson County Master Conservationist in 2019 and received the Distinguished Service Award by the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce in 2018. He serves as the administrator of the County Ag Investment Program for Anderson and Woodford counties.

You can read more about David Dennis here:

For more information about State Cost Share, visit the link below, or your local Conservation District office:

For more information about the County Ag Investment Program and other Agricultural Development Funds, click here:

For more information about funding through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, visit:

For more information about AgrAbility, click here:

Cost:

• Each program provides reimbursement for practices in different ways. Reimbursement for State Cost Share is 75% of actual cost capped at $20,000. Their cost estimates for these practices are below.

• Fence - $3 per linear foot

• Waterer - $1600

• Pipeline - $2.75 per linear foot

• Heavy Use Area – Winter Feeding structure - $17,500

• Stream Crossing - $6.30 per square foot

Load reductions per year:

• 195 pounds of Nitrogen, 18 pounds of Phosphorus, and 8 tons of sediment.

Sidebottom Dairy

Sidebottom Dairy in Greensburg, Kentucky is owned by Stacy Sidebottom. His father Jim started the business, and Stacy joined him upon graduation from high school. Today, they farm about 800 acres and milk 250 dairy cows. They also raise corn for silage and feed, soybeans, wheat and hay. All of their crop land is cover-cropped with wheat.

The Sidebottoms house their dairy cattle in a free-stall pack barn with sawdust bedding. They made the decision to confine the cattle to keep them cleaner, healthier and run a larger number of animals on a smaller number of acres than they could if they were pasture based. The bedding is turned every day which allows the waste to be absorbed. This creates a composted product that is removed twice a year and applied to fields. “Managing the manure dry means I can haul it further away than I can with liquid manure from the lagoon,” says Sidebottom. The dry manure compost is stored in a covered stack pad until they are ready to land apply.

Some manure and milkhouse waste is managed as a liquid through a lagoon system. They use this to fertilize the closer fields through flexible hose on the back of a tractor. The Sidebottoms used to use a less flexible hose with a gun that shot the manure into the field. He says the new hose setup allows them to get into corners and avoid spraying areas that shouldn’t be fertilized. It does have a little more soil compaction from the tractor, but Sidebottom feels the more targeted application is “better for the soil and better for the crops. It is a wonderful thing.”

Sidebottom is a member of the Green County Soil and Water Conservation District and Green County Farm Bureau.

You can read more about the Sidebottom Farm below:

For more information about Compost Bedded Pack Barns, this by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and the Environment:

For more information about NRCS practices in Kentucky, visit:

For more information about Kentucky State Cost Share, visit the following, or your local conservation district:

For more information about Kentucky Agricultural Development Funds visit:

Cost:

• Building a compost bedded pack barn can cost $500-$2000 per cow. Currently, a composted bedded pack barn is not an available practice through Kentucky NRCS EQIP but may be eligible for cost share under Kentucky Agricultural Development Funds.

• A manure stack pad is available through EQIP or state cost share at $8-$12 per square foot.

Load reductions per year:

• 15,856 pounds of Nitrogen and 3,585 pounds of Phosphorus per year.

Duckworth Farm

Michael Duckworth grew up farming with his parents, Harold and Mary Jane Duckworth, in Harrison County, Kentucky. His family had 500 acres where they grew tobacco, Simmental cattle and experimented with new practices. “Dad was innovative in a lot of ways and worked on feeding trials and breeding work. Cutting edge stuff for the 1980s,” says Duckworth. Michael and his wife Debbie purchased a farm in Woodford County in 2012 and have been working to develop agrotourism on their property and install best management practices to protect the watershed they live in.

Although they don’t own cattle, the Duckworths work with a neighbor to pasture 25 cows on their 45-acre farm every year. They have divided the farm into nine paddocks with a water source where they practice rotational grazing from May until January. Then the cattle are sold to keep from having mud issues that degrade the pasture during the muddiest part of the winter.

Duckworth has used a combination of funding to establish these paddocks. They have participated in the NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program, Environmental Quality Incentive Program and an Elkhorn Creek Resource Conservation Partnership Program grant. He says, “It sure has helped us do things faster than I would have been able to do without the funding. We try to do the best we can.” Through these programs they added pollinator plantings and native grasses to the farm.

Duckworth Farm also has a field with more than 2000 Canaan fir Christmas trees that they sell in November and December. They chose to plant their trees further apart than many other farms do to help with weed control and make harvesting easier. They also built a wedding barn and host many events throughout the year.

Michael hopes the grandkids will jump in when they are older. “It is special to watch kids play on a farm and in the pond with tadpoles. I wish every kid had that experience.”

Mike Duckworth serves as chair of the Woodford County Soil and Water Conservation District and is a Certified Crop Advisor.

Click Below to read more about the Duckworth farm:

For more information on the Conservation Stewardship Program:

For more information about EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program):

For more information about Regional Conservation Partnership Program grants:

Cost

• Each program provides reimbursement for practices in different ways. Reimbursement for State Cost Share is 75% of actual cost capped at $20,000. Their cost estimates for these practices are below.

• Fence - $3 per linear foot

• Waterer - $1600

• Pipeline - $2.75 per linear foot

Load reductions per year for rotational grazing

• 154 pounds of Nitrogen, and 7 pounds of Phosphorus.

Craig Callahan

In Owsley County, the Callahan Family have been farming for four generations. Like many Kentucky farms, they raised tobacco for many years but shifted to focus on cattle after the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement occurred. Today, they raise 350 cow-calf pairs of cattle and cut hay on 2500 acres that include river bottom, forest and high ground where coal mining occurred. Craig Callahan says farming on an old mine is always challenging but is an underutilized resource because the land takes so much time to build back fertile soil and quality pasture.

The core section of the farm is about 1800 acres with the South Fork Kentucky River running through the middle. This prime bottomland provides great pastureland, but in the winter can become muddy. After historic flooding in 2021 and 2022, the family has had to rebuild and is taking the opportunity to change some things about the way they operate. They have moved fences further from the river and have installed fence line feeders to feed their animals out of the floodplain. Craig Callahan says, "We have found that tractors generate as much mud as the cattle do in the winter.” The fence line feeder also allows them to feed from an alley, so they don’t have to move the tractor into the field with the cattle. That saves them from needing an extra person to open and close gates while trying to keep the cattle in. “Not having to put the tractor in with the cattle is great,” says Callahan.

Callahan credits Doug Wilson with the Kentucky Division of Conservation and the State Cost Share program for their assistance in installing these practices. “Without cost share we couldn’t possibly do it. It may seem expensive from the outside, but when you consider it saves 20-30 percent of your hay and the decrease in mud, it is one of the greatest practices.” They have also been able to build the feeder to hold three days worth of hay, so they are spending less time on the tractor each day feeding animals. Callahan says that is particularly helpful during the short winter days.

To find out more about fence line feeders:

For more information about Kentucky State Cost Share, visit the link below, or contact your local conservation district.

Cost

• Fenceline feeder installation $1,300 to $4,100. Callahan says he prefers concrete as the surround although it costs more to install.

• State Cost Share based on 75 percent of actual cost of installation of approved practice.

Load reductions per year

• 3792 pounds of Nitrogen, 172 pounds of Phosphorus per year and 0.11 tons of sediment.

Morrison Poultry Farm

Deena Morrison bought her 40-acre farm in Hickman County when she was a new college graduate. She grew up on a farm nearby and her dad encouraged her to buy the property when he saw it come up for sale. She started by raising row crops in rotation.

A few years later, she married her husband Tim. Together, they built their first four chicken houses in the fall of 1999 and later expanded to add another two houses in 2004. Today, they raise 21,000 birds per house and go from chick to a 7.5-pound adult in about 54 days. That is about 750,000 chickens per year from their farm! They also continue to raise about 18 acres of corn and soybeans in rotation.

The Morrisons are passionate about caring for their birds and the environment. They have always practiced no-till farming, so the land hasn’t been tilled in more than the 25 years. They also soil sample on a gridded pattern and use their chicken waste as fertilizer. They have installed grassed waterways and a pond to capture field runoff before it reaches the Bayou du Chien River nearby. Deena says, “There is an endangered Relict Darter there and we are very careful we don’t have runoff that would endanger that animal.” Tim adds, “It is easier to maintain the farm with the grassed waterways.”

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Stewardship Program helped with the design and installation of the grassed waterways on their farm. They recently reworked some of the drainage and drilled more rye and fescue to slow down the water as it is in the waterway. They have also installed rock around the chicken houses to lessen the erosion from the force of water coming of the roofs. Deena says the weather has been a challenge in the past few years with frequent large rain events. “When we see a problem pop up, we try and fix it as soon as possible. If you don’t fix it quick, you have a gully.”

The Morrisons have also installed solar panels on their farm to help offset the energy cost of heating and cooling the chicken houses. The panels even contain trackers to follow the sun through the day. Although the panels are connected directly to the local utility, they generate the equivalent of what two of their chicken houses use in a day.

The Morrisons have won the Kentucky Poultry Federation Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award three times. They won a prestigious “Golden Feather” award from Tyson in 2018 and were honored at the national level in 2016 and 2018 with the Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award, given by the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. 

For more information about the Morrison Poultry Farm:

Read here about their solar panel installation:

For more information about the NRCS Conservation Stewardship Program:

The County Ag Investment Program also has funding available at a 50 percent cost share rate up to $10,000 for energy efficiency programs. Click below to find out about that program:

Cost

• Each program provides reimbursement for practices in different ways.
• Reimbursement for State Cost Share is 75 percent of actual cost, capped at $20,000. Their cost estimates for these practices are below. 

• Grassed waterway with rock structures - $1981/acre

• Minimum annual payment for participation in the CSP program is $4000/year

Load reductions per year

• 107 pounds of Nitrogen, 34 pounds of Phosphorus per year and 16 tons of sediment.