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Butler County rancher says conservation a necessity"To me, we are custodians of this Earth and it bothers me to see people destroy it and just leave it," he said. "We need to do more to take care of what we have." Kansas Don Walenta searched for a ranch to purchase for 14 years. And after purchasing the 1,360 acres in Butler County the first thing he did was leave it alone. Walenta said the native prairie had been taken over with hedge trees and cedars and was overgrazed. "I gave it a year of rest," he said. While production from the land is important to Walenta, conservation practices on his ranch were a necessity. "To me, we are custodians of this Earth and it bothers me to see people destroy it and just leave it," he said. "We need to do more to take care of what we have." Over the past decade, Walenta has sought assistance from a variety of sources to assist in implementing those conservation practices on his ranch which approximately consists of 960 acres of grass, about 300 acres of cropland and 100 acres of timber. One of those sources was the River Friendly Farms Project environmental self-assessment. Several years ago, Walenta completed the assessment at a workshop sponsored by the Butler County Conservation District and the Kansas Rural Center. Dale Kirkham, Clean Water Farms-River Friendly Farms Project field organizer, and Sandy Koontz, Butler County Conservation District water quality coordinator, conducted the workshop. Sandy said the RFFP "puts it all on the table" and makes farmers and ranchers think of the big picture. "Sometimes issues are brought to the forefront--even something they didn't think was a problem," she said. One of the priority areas the RFFP highlighted for Walenta included the lack of water in one pasture, something he says is vital to his rotational grazing system. A solution for water seemed to be a struggle--Sandy said a Natural Resources and Conservation Service soil conservation technician looked at the site and determined it was not suited for a pond. Then the team looked into a well near the site, which turned out to be unusable. "An existing well was in disrepair, so it was plugged though cost-share (non-point source funding) with the soil conservation office," she said. After exploring the options, it appeared drilling a new well was the only solution to supply water to that portion of the pasture. To offset some of Walenta's costs, different cost-share programs were explored. Sandy said the project "didn't fit cost-share practices that the conservation district had available." Therefore, with assistance from Dale and Sandy, Walenta applied for cost-share through KRC's CWF-RFFP. "We were able to work with the (Kansas) Rural Center to accomplish some funding," she said. While the CWF-RFFP is unable to pay for capital improvements such as the well itself, KRC was able to provide Walenta with funds to offset his costs with the original idea of a pump powered by solar panels. Once the well was drilled it produced only a limited amount of water, therefore Walenta said "solar wasn't feasible." So the plan was revised to include a 3,000 gallon storage tank and a portable gas-powered generator. While the cattle are in that portion of the pasture, Walenta, who lives in Wichita, runs the generator about every third day to pump water from the well into the storage tank. The larger storage tank supplies a 500 gallon tank. A float valve shuts off the supply line when the smaller tank is full, insuring the cattle have clean fresh water to drink. Walenta said this project improves water quality on his ranch because the cattle "don't trail far to get to water." Sandy added that the cattle no longer loaf in the shaded area of an intermittent stream. "They stay closer to the water supply on top of the hill," she noted. In addition, Walenta said having available water in all areas of the pasture has enhanced his rotational grazing system by improving grass management, which in turn has increased the production of the leased stockers that graze his ranch from mid-April to mid-August. "I'm able to get better production out of the cattle and put more gain on them." Walenta said due his management practices, he's able to stock slightly heavier than the recommended 2.8 acres of grass per head. In addition to feeding more head of cattle, Walenta was "able to put them in two weeks longer this year" because of the quality and quantity of the grass. "Every way you look at it, it's win-win-win," he said. As time permits, Walenta plans to continue to add additional water sources in his pasture. He also plans to preserve the water supply he does have by cutting trees around existing ponds--trees that absorb large amounts of water from the pond. In the future, he also plans to install additional alternative watering sites as recommended by Dale. "I plan to do what Dale suggests by putting in below-pond waterers," he said. Working together to help Walenta accomplish his goals, Sandy felt all the entities were easy to work with and accommodating. Sandy said Dale was an excellent resource and he "has a very good rapport with landowners as he is a landowner himself". "Dale is always willing to share what he knows," Walenta said. Another area of his ranch where Walenta implemented conservation practices was on his crop ground. He worked with his crop ground tenant to implement no-till and a wheat/soybean rotational cropping. Walenta is hopeful that these practices will improve water quality by reducing the need for additional fertilizer, and reducing erosion of rich bottom ground. It was along this same ground that Walenta was concerned that he was losing streambank where the Little Walnut River runs through his ranch. "Don was alarmed at how much bank was caving in," Sandy said. Not only was this an issue for Walenta's loss of productivity, but he also looked at it from a global perspective. Walenta said "I've been to New Orleans, and I've read enough and observed enough to know that the gulf is filling up with topsoil from all over the United States." Walenta wanted to slow down the erosion and prevent any more loss of production from the adjacent crop ground. For both technical and financial assistance, Sandy, on behalf of Walenta, worked through the State Conservation Commission, the Kansas Alliance for Wetlands and Streams and the Watershed Institute to install rock vanes in the Little Walnut River to help prevent erosion along the stream bank. Since the projects' completion, the amount of erosion has been greatly reduced. In addition to the rock veins, a group of El Dorado High School students planted trees along the bank to hold the soil. "We've made great improvements to reduce the erosion," Walenta said. Walenta sees the need to protect the beauty of the countryside beyond the confines of his own property. Reducing litter and dumpsites along roadsides is an issue Walenta said he is passionate about. While he often picks up littered items himself, he feels more can be done by visiting with our state lawmakers. "There are laws on the books, however they need to enforce the littering fines." Walenta is motivated to make improvements for his land and community. "I think looking to the future is important," he said. 10/20/08 Date: 10/16/08 Advertisement
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