Photo courtesy of Larson Acres: https://larsonacres.com/
Farmers make up less than 2 percent of the population, yet they are responsible for feeding the world. And that’s why farmers are the original conservationists, preserving natural resources for generations to come. For farmers, Earth Day is every day.
Brooke Trustem joins us in-studio. She is a sixth-generation farmer and works on her family’s dairy farm, Larson Acres, in Evansville. World Dairy Expo named the family the 2024 Producer of the Year.
By investing in innovative conservation, Trustem says her family can produce more food with fewer resources.
For example, she says a few years ago, the farm switched from hauling cow manure with trucks to pumping it with a tubing system or a dragline. Brooke estimates the farm has taken hundreds of loads off of the road every day with the switch. This has helped lower the farm’s carbon emissions and protect the rural roads.
The manure from a cow is full of nutrients, and it goes back to the land for the next crop of food that the cow eats. Larson Acres forks the manure into the ground to reduce the risk of runoff.
The farm uses sand to bed the cows. Trustem says they’ve started recycling the sand to reduce the amount they need every day. Larson Acres recycles sand by, in simplest terms, washing and drying it. The farm went from needing 30 truckloads of sand per day to one load.
Trustem says these innovative conservation practices have kept the family farming for multiple generations and have grown the farm to 2,800 cows and more than 5,000 acres while supporting the family, the local economy, and the environment.
If you’re interested in visiting the farm, Larson Acres hosts tours. Learn more: https://larsonacres.com/
