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Stewards care for land, hogs
By Jennifer Bremer The land feeds the hogs and the hogs feed the land. That is how Scott County, Iowa, hog producer, Loren Keppy, and his family run their farm. The Keppys are the recipients of one of the 2007 Pork Industry Environmental Steward Awards sponsored by the National Pork Board's Pork Checkoff. Loren, along with his wife, Jeantee, and their children, Kaylee and Jake, operate Keppy Farms near the eastern Iowa town of Durant. The farm consists of a 1,920-head feed-to-finish hog operation and 900 acres of crop ground. "We want to take care of both our land and our hogs in the best way possible because it is in our best interest to do so," said Keppy. Change led to success The Keppys made changes in their operation in 1995 when two 960-head finishing barns were built at their farm site. Previously they had 80 sows and fed out the pigs in a farrow-to-finish operation. Along with the changes in the pork industry in the late 1990s, they decided to look at raising and marketing hogs differently. That is when they started a hog-finishing contract with Maschhoff's--an Illinois-based company. Hogs are delivered to the farm at 45 pounds and marketed at approximately 285 pounds. The marketing of the hogs takes about three to four weeks, at which time hogs are sorted into groups of similar weight. This allows them to fill the barns two and one-half times per year. "The barns are completely emptied in order to clean and disinfect the entire barn before another group of pigs are delivered," he said. Manure management is important Manure from the pigs accumulates in 8-foot deep pits under the barns, which are drained once per month into an earthen basin. Keppy uses phytase as a feed additive to help lower the phosphorus levels in the manure. A microsource is also used to lower the ammonia, thus reducing odor emissions. The earthen basin is usually covered with a layer of straw to keep the nutrients in the pit and reduce smell. "Around Thanksgiving time or when the crops are all out of the field, we will empty the basin and use a custom applicator to apply the manure to our fields," he explained. A soft hose is used to transport the manure to the fields within a 1.75-mile radius of the basin, where it is pumped into a custom applicator and spread onto the fields. Keppy likes to use this method as it reduces road time and helps avoid the chance of runoff or contamination of creeks in the vicinity. Accurate records are kept for each field and the base application rate is used according to their manure management plan. Testing is done on the manure at the top, middle and bottom of the lagoon in order to know what nutrients are present. Soil tests are also performed on the land every three to four years to help make changes in the manure management plan. "Typically we apply at the same rate on all our ground, but if we have a field that will be corn on corn, then we may need to apply more liquid nitrogen with a chemical applicator," he said. Keppy also raises seed corn and soybeans for a local Pioneer plant. On most of the acres devoted to raising the seed he uses no-till or minimum tillage. This allows for better utilization of crop residue and the manure from the hogs. "If everyone would just be responsible when using manure application on their farms, they would see the benefits from it. You have to stay on your toes and make sure you are doing it by the book, but the benefits are wonderful," Keppy said. "We can raise our own fertilizer and it's the whole system approach." A family system A system approach is just what the Keppys enjoy. Loren does most of the daily labor with help from his daughter, Kaylee, a freshman at Black Hawk College in Kewanee, Ill., and his son, Jake, a junior at Durant High School. Both have been involved in the operation and have also enjoyed showing hogs at the Scott County Fair and the Iowa State Fair. This year, Kaylee exhibited the Grand Champion Derby pig at the state fair, which was a great honor for the family, especially since it ranked first in the carcass contest as well. The kids' pigs are kept at Loren's father's farm a few miles away, where they go to care for them daily. Both kids have been actively involved in judging team activities, as Kaylee is on the team at her college and Jake will travel to Louisville to participate in the national 4-H judging contest in November. His wife, Jeantee, works for a desktop publishing company and helps with the bookkeeping at the farm. During the winter months, Loren serves as an assistant wrestling coach at the high school. Members of the team can be found at the farm on days when extra help is needed. "It's kind of a hang out for the kids since we are so close to town," he said. "If they didn't know the hogs were there they wouldn't realize it." Keppy and his family feel it is important to educate the public about agriculture and how they raise their hogs and care for the land. "We have a lot of people in and out of our farmstead and we want it to look the best it possibly can," he said. "That is really important to us." Alleviating the smell from the hog buildings and basin are important and they also compost any mortality at the farm. This also allows for sustainability and the compost pile is hauled out onto the land each fall. Environmental maintenance Keppy maintains waterways in his fields and buffer strips along the creek. While other farmers have received funding to do this, he has always done it voluntarily on his highly erodible land in order to maintain proper stewardship. Buffer strips are located on all ends of his ground as a precautionary practice to prevent any potential problems with contamination. "We are as safe as we have ever been with treating the land properly. There is little chance for runoff or contamination with how we are set up," he said. "Farmers are all that way. You have to be good stewards of the land." Keppy said the practices used these days with buffer strips, water ways, and minimum or no tillage makes it easier to save the soil. These are things that they practice on the ground they own, as well as the rented ground and with the hogs they feed. "It all is treated just like we would treat it if it were our own," he added. "It allows the crops to feed the pigs and the pigs to feed the crops." Challenges ahead While Keppy believes raising hogs can always be a challenge with the changes in genetics, nutrition, health issues, management and input costs, he also believes that as long as producers stay on top of the current issues, they will be able to raise hogs successfully. Health is one of the biggest challenges he faces on a daily basis with the confined hogs. It is important to check the hogs daily and stay on top of a problem before it spreads throughout the entire herd. "You always have to be one step ahead of the problem," he added. For the future, Keppy said they plan to stay at their current production level as it is a good fit for their family. "Right now we don't have to have any hired help on a regular basis and we like it that way," he said. "We don't want to get too big and lose touch of why we enjoy this business so much." The Keppys feel that sustainability is the right thing to do for their land, their animals, the environment and the community. Jennifer Bremer can be reached by phone at 515-833-2120 or by e-mail at jbremermaj@hotmail.com.
Date: 10/29/07
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