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Brown County farmer sees there is always somebody downstreamKansas David Zeit's ties to Northeast Kansas run deep. Zeit grew up in southern Doniphan County just northeast of Huron. Once he wanted to establish his own farm, he ventured one county west--to Brown County. The land where he farms south of Fairview was once owned by his wife, Nita's grandfather. Zeit now runs around 70 cow-calf pairs on his farm located near Plum Creek in the Delaware River Watershed. Over the past few years Zeit has made changes to address water quality on his farm and downstream. In 2003, there were high levels of nutrients in Zeit's area of Plum Creek, therefore Kansas Department of Health and Environment stepped in. To reduce the nutrient levels, it was determined by KDHE that Zeit should relocate his feedlot further up the fill away from the creek, a tributary to Plum Creek. Working together, KSU Extension, Brown County Conservation District and the Kansas Rural Center all helped Zeit come up with a plan to relocate and redesign his feedlot. And to assist in the financial aspect of relocating the feedlot, Zeit applied for KRC's Clean Water Farms-River Friendly Farms Project cost-share and non-point source pollution funding through the Brown County Conservation District. "I really appreciate all the help--planning and financial," Zeit is quick to say. "It's a lot to take on alone." With the financial assistance, Zeit built a new feedlot further up the hill on what had been cropland. Moving it to this location required a great deal of earthwork, including leveling two upper terraces and rebuilding a lower terrace. Below the pens, Zeit converted 3.5 acres of former cropland to switchgrass. The switchgrass filters the nutrients from the feedlot runoff before it flows into the creek. Zeit will harvest hay from this section, utilizing the nutrients. Due to the new pens' location atop a hill, Zeit installed a new series of windbreaks for the cattle. Just to the north of the winter feeding area, he planted a natural windbreak of red cedar trees. To protect the herd in the calving area, he installed a mechanical windbreak of a 154' galvanized metal wall. "The cattle are more content now," Zeit said. "They are drier, warmer and more productive." One of Zeit's main goals is to make his operation less labor-intensive. "My kids are grown and have lives and families of their own. So I am more and more a one-man operation," he explained. According to Ed Reznicek, CWFP field organizer, "the redesigned facilities will improve the productivity of his cattle enterprise, while making the management of the enterprise easier." Before receiving cost-share through the CWF-RFFP, Zeit completed the River Friendly Farms environmental self-assessment. One area the assessment highlighted for Zeit was his manure management program. Zeit said the price of fertilizer has made this even more necessary. He said he is currently searching for a reasonably priced manure spreader so that he can apply the manure from the lots to his crop ground. Due to these changes, Zeit is now in compliance with KDHE. Zeit said completing this project allows him to have "better control of environmental issues" like water quality on his farm and downstream. "We are all dependent on a good source of water--which is one of the elements we have to have," he said. For anyone looking at making similar changes on their farm, Zeit urges them to "thoroughly research the financial aspect." "Make sure you have an excellent lender to work with," he said. "Even though there is financial assistance available from a variety of sources, you need a good lender." But Zeit went on to say, "Maybe the most important thing is the support of your family. When you are trying to do most of the work yourself, not hire it done, it gets stressful for the whole family," he explained. "I needed and appreciated all their support!" Zeit's concern for water also led him to serve on the board of the Nemaha/Brown Watershed #7 as the secretary. He also serves as the chairman for the stakeholder leadership team for the Delaware Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy. Zeit said he got involved several years ago with the Delaware WRAPS to see what it entailed and "just stuck with it". According to Zeit, WRAPS is a way to "educate the ordinary person about the importance of water quality." He added there are many things that the people in the watershed can do to improve water quality, including implementing practices that "stop sedimentation and erosion and reduce the impact of chemicals." "There is always somebody downstream," he said. "I'm one little speck, but 10 little specks make a big difference," he said. 7/21/08 Date: 7/17/08 Advertisement
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