- started farming in the '70's
- high input grain farming, purchased all nutrient requirements
- today - 2002
- intensive agriculture, almost self sufficient in nutrients requirements
- 30 years to achieve this
- early '80's
- started marketing grain through livestock
- spread manure on land
- mid '80's
- started growing alfalfa silage to replace grain silage
- alfalfa is a legume, soil improvement with high N production
- after 4 years of alfalfa in rotation, enough N stored for 2 years cereal production
- '90's
- developed 'nutrient cycling' concept
- 1 cow excretes approx. $150 of nutrient/year (1/2 urine)
- seeded rest of land to alfalfa, developed intensive alfalfa grazing system
- eliminated harvesting feed
- met all nutrient requirements
- developed portable wintering system
- eliminated manure handling
- full utilization of urine nutrients
- 2000
- developed 'whole farm concept'
- farm commodity sales, export of nutrients from land
- purchase livestock feeds, import of nutrients, use nutrient cycling to return to land
- eliminated the purchase of commercial fertilizer
- Off the "agricultural treadmill"
- eliminated high input farming
- lowered input costs
- "Sustainable agriculture"
- land production has increased
- environmentally sound
- Less stress
- eliminated seeding/harvest stress