The winners of this year’s Leopold Conservation Award — presented annually to a Wisconsin farm that work toward improving land and water quality — say others should attend the upcoming Red Cedar Watershed Conference.
The conference is March 12 at the University of Wisconsin-Stout Memorial Student Center in Menomonie. Registration is 7:30-8:30 a.m., with programs starting at 8:45 a.m. and running until about 4 p.m.
Jeff and Kelley Lake of Lake Family Farms at Boyceville and this year’s Leopold Conservation Award winners, told WAXX assistant farm director Scott Schultz that it’s important for the soil, land and community for people to attend the conference.
“The biggest thing is, we just have to take care of our land, and take care of our water and everything on it,” Jeff Lake said.
The Lakes farm about 1,500 acres and raise some beef at their farm. Jeff Lake is his family’s fifth generation on the farm, and said he feels as though they’re borrowing the land and its resources from their ancestors. They’ve worked with the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, UW Discovery Farms, Pheasants Forever and other organizations to continue advancing conservation measures.
They’ve gone to no-till, precision applications and cover crops, have installed buffer strips and have undertaken other conservation practices.
Jeff Lake said a continuing challenge is to work toward better profitability by using conservation practices.
Kelley Lake said moving toward conservation practices is, in part, a cultural issue.
“Just the ability to open up as farmers or anyone in ag to talk about what’s going on and that change is possible,” she said. It is a scary step and you can take it slow or you can take it fast. But as long as you have a mentor out there who’s willing to reach out and help you, it’s great — you can get there from here.”
Kelley Lake said she thinks there eventually will be policies established to improve conservation practices. Conferences such as the Red Cedar Watershed Conference
“The Red Cedar Conference is an amazing way to really get involved and understand how and who you can talk to and even start to make this change,” she said.
Sorge said upwards of 300 conference attendees will hear about urban and rural water and soil conservation issues and other matters, such as where food comes from. Networking will be an important part of the conference, he added.
“We have some farmers throughout the Red Cedar basin who are doing a wonderful job,” Sorge said.
Schultz started the WAXX interview by asking Jeff Lake why conservation is so important to him and his family:
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