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On ashland County dairy,
nutrient recycling is key
By Kyle ShaRp Rye is no-till planted in the fall as a
In late April, Ayers Farms in Ashland winter cover crop after corn silage har-
County is a busy place to be. For exam- vest and an application of manure from
ple, Carl Ayers, one of six family mem- the dairy. The rye root system helps pre-
bers currently involved in the 685-cow vent erosion and mitigate compaction
dairy operation, may be alone in the issues. After it is harvested as haylage in
middle of a field of cereal rye adjacent to the spring, the fields are no-till planted
the dairy barns, but his cell phone is con- back to corn silage. The double-crop sys-
stantly ringing. tem provides feed for the dairy, while
Is that particular rye field ready to be benefiting the environment.
cut for haylage, or should it wait a few “On a dairy, what you’re doing is recy- Ayers Farms in Ashland County has been a family oper-
more days? A custom harvester is having cling nutrients, over and over,” Carl said.
ation since 1810, and dairy cattle have been the focus
some machine issues; what should he “You have to be careful with soil tests and
since the 1940s. Family members currently involved
do? Another custom harvester just your manure management plan, and a
are Carl and Janet Ayers and their daughter, Kathy
Davis, and Steve and Deb Ayers, and their son, Jesse.
arrived; what field should he start cut- double crop allows us to intensify produc-
Pictured, from the left, are Carl, Jesse, Janet, Deb,
ting? Corn and soybean market prices tion in terms of recycling nutrients from
Steve and Kathy.
have changed, would the farm like to the dairy to the farm ground.”
market some of its stored crop? The farm has about 1,700 acres of
With the farm’s weeping wall solid separation manure
A little while later, someone drives cropland and 200 acres of woodland. The
storage, liquid manure flows from the larger collection
up, hands Carl a resume and asks if the fields near the dairy facility primarily are
areas into the smaller lanes, where it is then pumped
to a two-stage lagoon on the hill in the background.
farm is hiring. While that used to be a used for the rye-corn silage double crop,
The liquid manure is pumped to more distant fields
rare occurrence, that’s hardly the case to reduce transportation costs, with soy-
and applied as fertilizer using a dragline, while the col-
during today’s tough economic times. beans sometimes rotated into the closer lected solids are conventionally spread.
“Probably not a day goes by that fields, but more common in those farther
about three years ago.
someone doesn’t stop and ask for work,” away. The farm also has about 80 acres of
we’re doing without no-till.” “We probably brought in close to 75
Carl said. wheat and 150 acres of hay.
Fields are soil tested at least every tons of sand per week prior to this,” Carl
While every day is busy on the dairy, Other than one low, very flat field
three years, with some more frequent, to said. “Now it’s all recycled except during
late April is especially so during harvest that is sometimes tilled, the farm is
determine where nutrients are needed. the extreme cold times of winter when it
of the fall-planted rye in the fields near entirely no-till.
Ayers Farms works with an agronomist, can’t be flushed and has to be scraped
the dairy facility. “I was at a short course for young farm-
Mike Snyder, who recommends how and hauled.”
“All the rye becomes ripe at one time, ers at Ohio State in the winter in 1965 and
much manure, fertilizer, what crop vari- The farm is located where the glaciers
and we want quality and tonnage. But a professor said they were starting to plant
eties, and what herbicide and pesticide stopped, so there is a wide variation in soil
once it shoots head, the quality goes down without a plow,” Carl said. “I laughed the
programs to use on fields. types. Tile is used on the poorly drained
real fast,” Carl said. “So, it’s a real intense longest and hardest of anybody.”
Manure nutrients are spread through- ground. The farms woodland also is man-
time. We do about 600 acres of rye and But Mother Nature would soon make
out the farm’s crop ground, with some aged for timber harvest. Ohio Department
have about a three- or four-day window to him a believer. The farm has used no-till
excess also applied on neighbors’ fields. of Natural Resources Division of Forestry
get top quantity without losing quality.” almost exclusively since 1969 when a 10-
The farm has a weeping wall solid separa- cost-share funds have allowed the farm to
inch overnight rain flooded the farm. At
tion manure storage system that separates implement timberland improvement prac-
that time, only one field was no-till and
manure into solid and liquid form. The tices over the years.
the rest were conventional.
solids are collected and spread convention- The Ayers Farms numerous efforts to
“With the rain and flood, there was no
ally on fields farther from the dairy operate with the environment in mind
erosion on the no-till field that usually was
throughout the year when appropriate. earned the farm the 2009 Environmental
highly erodible, while the other fields were
The other two-thirds of the farm’s manure, Stewardship Award from the Ohio Dairy
devastated,” Carl said. “We went with no-
in liquid form, is applied with a drag hose Producers and the Ohio Livestock
till after that and have never looked back.
in the fall following crop harvest. Coalition. In addition to Carl and his
Most of our land is classified as highly
The farm recently installed about brother Steve, who direct field work and
erodible and we farm a decent amount of
5,600 feet of 12-inch manure pipeline to day-to-day activities, other family mem-
slopes. We wouldn’t be able to do what
transport manure to more distant loca- bers involved in the farm are: Carl’s wife,
tions. The pipeline pumps liquid manure Janet, who raises baby calves; their
about 1 mile south of the dairy to a block daughter Kathy Davis, who manages the
of land for application. farm’s young stock, of which about a
Liquid manure and flush water used third at any given time are on 80 acres of
to clean the barns are stored in a two- rotationally grazed permanent pasture;
stage lagoon. Water from the final stage Steve’s wife, Deb, who manages the
is reused as flush water in the heifer and books and accounting; and Steve and
dairy barns. The liquids are pumped to Deb’s son, Jesse, who runs the dairy. The
storage on a hill overlooking the dairy farm also has several full-time employees
facility. who have been with them for 10 years or
“The valley is full of gravel, and we more, and numerous part-time helpers.
didn’t want the liquid lagoon down here In the future, the family intends to
where it could foul up the aquifer,” Carl maintain what they are doing and
Through a gravity flow system established on the farm
said. “So the lagoon is on an adjacent hill improve upon their drainage and water-
The farm has used no-till almost exclusively since about three years ago, barn flush water flows through
1969. In the fields near the dairy where manure is used sand bedding stored here. The water rinses
in a clay deposit.” way management. That likely means
spread and corn silage and cereal rye cut for haylage manure from the sand, then the sand is stacked and
Sand bedding is used in the freestall more tile where needed.
are double-cropped each year, plenty of roots and allowed to settle for about three weeks before being
barns. Like the water, the sand also is “I’m sure he’ll (meaning Carl) put
earthworms dominate the soil, as this picture shows. reused as bedding in the barns. The process allows the collected, cleaned and reused after a more tile in,” Janet said. “He’d rather put
The roots improve soil tilth and prevent soil erosion. farm to recycle nearly 100% of its sand.
sand separation system was incorporated tile in than eat, I think.”
22 Environmental Stewards • Ohio’s Country Journal • July 2009
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