Compost piles continually monitored

COMPOSTING, from pg. 10 many of the participants will work within their own farm, system or company.

The training yielded positive reviews from participants: connection to others in Minnesota industry and agencies, connection to the compost training educators and resources, and the development of composting proficiency to best serve the industry during a catastrophic event.

In the training’s ensuing weeks, the five compost piles built by participants have been monitored for temperature and compost activity.

Diane DeWitte is an Extension Educator specializing in swine for the University of Minnesota Extension. Her e-mail address is stouf002@umn.edu v

Haase benefited from grazing mentors

HAASE, from pg. 14 they had been spending their time, and in a few seconds moved the virtual fence to give them new forage grounds.

A cattle enterprise would not require buying more land, he said, or buying more cattle. He’s considering custom grazing.

“The way I see it, it’s really great to have a home base,” Haase said, “and I have that here. But there’s land everywhere and it’s being underutilized because we’re just growing corn and beans on it, and the photosynthesis required for that is during only about a third of the year.”

Too much sunshine is being “spilled” on bare ground, he said. Instead of losing that potential solar energy, he sees farmers planting cover crops — as they do on the family’s farm — that then could be rented to custom graze cattle using the virtual fencing.

Scott Haase’s new approaches to agriculture have come from his own study (his grazing mentors are successful grazers Gabe Brown, Allen Williams, and Greg Judy) and attending training events. He puts those principles into practice on his homestead and the family farm.

“You’re constantly learning things,” Haase said, which makes networking with other farmers important. That is how he found the Mangalitsa breed of pig that he is so satisfied with.

“I think virtual fencing is going to be the future of ruminant livestock, for sure,” Haase said. “It would be great if they made it for pigs.”

Learn more about Blue Dirt Farm and read Haase’s blogs at bluedirtfarm.com. Email is scott@ bluedirtfarm.com. v