Otsego County farm finds eco-friendly harmony
Otsego County farm finds eco-friendly harmony
Otsego County farm finds eco-friendly harmony
Otsego County farm finds eco-friendly harmony
Otsego County farm finds eco-friendly harmony
MFB Ecology Leadership Award goes to Sklarczyk Seed Farm
This award announcement was made in advance of Michigan Farm Bureau’s 89th Annual Meeting. A photo from the award ceremony is now available at http://www.michfb.com/annual.
GRAND RAPIDS, Dec. 2, 2008 — Spotting a nook or cranny on the Sklarczyk Seed Farm that has not been touched by the green thumbs of father-and-son operators Don and Ben Sklarczyk is nearly impossible. From top to bottom and inside and out, the Johannesburg farm employs the newest and best practices for environmental stewardship, energy efficiency and wildlife conservation.
For their progressiveness, thoroughness and dedication to caring for the environment, the Sklarczyks were presented the Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) Ecology Leadership Award during a Dec. 2 awards ceremony at the MFB 89th Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids.
Previously known as the Award for Proactive Leadership in Ecology Management, the award goes to an individual, farm or partnership whose natural resources stewardship practices contribute to the protection of the environment, while maintaining or enhancing productivity and profitability.
As the award winner, the Sklarczyks took home a prize John Deere CX Gator, compliments of Voelker Implement Sales of Lake City and Big Rapids, Hamilton Farm Bureau, Harvey’s Ag Solutions, Syngenta Crop Protection, CJD Farm Consulting, and Dennings & Associates.
The farm was nominated for the award by the Otsgeo County Farm Bureau, and selected from a field of 21 nominees submitted by county Farm Bureaus across the state. According to Otsgeo County Farm Bureau President Linc Campbell, the Sklarczyks have demonstrated great skill and tact in balancing the needs of business and the environment.
The duo produces seed potatoes in a hydroponic greenhouse, supplying more than 75 percent of the base seed potatoes for Frito Lay. They also grow wheat and soybeans on 500 acres.
Over the years, they have made extensive improvements and incorporated many new practices in the name of environmental stewardship. Among the biggest advancements has been the use of high-tech field gear, such as global positioning system controls on tractors and yield monitors on harvest equipment. The yield monitors helped the men determine that in some fields the energy requirements to produce a crop outweighed yields; thus, it made more sense to use the fields for wildlife food plots.
The Sklarczyks have also gone to considerable lengths to protect the water quality of nearby Denny Lake. Water runoff that collects on the farm is captured in water retention basins and
funneled to a holding pond where the water can be purified. Acting like a dam, water levels in the pond are regulated so that gates allowing water to flow into Denny Lake are only opened once the water has reached optimum purification.
In 2005, the farm secured a permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality to collect, receive and consume used oil. The Sklarczyks have been able to reduce liquid petroleum gas consumption on the farm by using more than 5,000 gallons of used oil per year for heating purposes.
Pursuing voluntary verification in the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) was a natural next step for the farm. MAEAP verification signifies that a farm operates in compliance with all applicable state and federal environmental regulations and generally accepted farming practices. In 2007, the wheat and soybean arm of the business became verified in the MAEAP Farmstead and Cropping Systems. A year later the greenhouse portion followed suit, becoming one of the first MAEAP-verified greenhouses in the state.
The Sklarczyks take pride in sharing newfound knowledge with others, no matter whether a person farms for a living or owns farmland for recreational purposes. As they humbly say, “it makes no difference as long as the ecosystem is benefited.”
To this point, Don Sklarczyk most recently has been working with the Otsego Conservation District to design a greenhouse for the production of native plants which can be used for restoration projects throughout northern Michigan.
“His help with our project exhibits his concern for natural resources at a large scale,” said Otsego Conservation District Chairperson John Middleton.
MFB is the state’s largest general farm organization, representing more than 47,000 farm families.
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Editor’s Note: Visit http://www.michfb.com/annual for photos from the awards ceremony. For more information after Dec. 5, contact Agricultural Ecology Specialist Carrie Vollmer-Sanders at (800) 292-2680, ext. 2026.
MFB Ecology Leadership Award goes to Sklarczyk Seed Farm
This award announcement was made in advance of Michigan Farm Bureau’s 89th Annual Meeting. A photo from the award ceremony is now available at http://www.michfb.com/annual.
GRAND RAPIDS, Dec. 2, 2008 — Spotting a nook or cranny on the Sklarczyk Seed Farm that has not been touched by the green thumbs of father-and-son operators Don and Ben Sklarczyk is nearly impossible. From top to bottom and inside and out, the Johannesburg farm employs the newest and best practices for environmental stewardship, energy efficiency and wildlife conservation.
For their progressiveness, thoroughness and dedication to caring for the environment, the Sklarczyks were presented the Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) Ecology Leadership Award during a Dec. 2 awards ceremony at the MFB 89th Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids.
Previously known as the Award for Proactive Leadership in Ecology Management, the award goes to an individual, farm or partnership whose natural resources stewardship practices contribute to the protection of the environment, while maintaining or enhancing productivity and profitability.
As the award winner, the Sklarczyks took home a prize John Deere CX Gator, compliments of Voelker Implement Sales of Lake City and Big Rapids, Hamilton Farm Bureau, Harvey’s Ag Solutions, Syngenta Crop Protection, CJD Farm Consulting, and Dennings & Associates.
The farm was nominated for the award by the Otsgeo County Farm Bureau, and selected from a field of 21 nominees submitted by county Farm Bureaus across the state. According to Otsgeo County Farm Bureau President Linc Campbell, the Sklarczyks have demonstrated great skill and tact in balancing the needs of business and the environment.
The duo produces seed potatoes in a hydroponic greenhouse, supplying more than 75 percent of the base seed potatoes for Frito Lay. They also grow wheat and soybeans on 500 acres.
Over the years, they have made extensive improvements and incorporated many new practices in the name of environmental stewardship. Among the biggest advancements has been the use of high-tech field gear, such as global positioning system controls on tractors and yield monitors on harvest equipment. The yield monitors helped the men determine that in some fields the energy requirements to produce a crop outweighed yields; thus, it made more sense to use the fields for wildlife food plots.
The Sklarczyks have also gone to considerable lengths to protect the water quality of nearby Denny Lake. Water runoff that collects on the farm is captured in water retention basins and
funneled to a holding pond where the water can be purified. Acting like a dam, water levels in the pond are regulated so that gates allowing water to flow into Denny Lake are only opened once the water has reached optimum purification.
In 2005, the farm secured a permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality to collect, receive and consume used oil. The Sklarczyks have been able to reduce liquid petroleum gas consumption on the farm by using more than 5,000 gallons of used oil per year for heating purposes.
Pursuing voluntary verification in the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) was a natural next step for the farm. MAEAP verification signifies that a farm operates in compliance with all applicable state and federal environmental regulations and generally accepted farming practices. In 2007, the wheat and soybean arm of the business became verified in the MAEAP Farmstead and Cropping Systems. A year later the greenhouse portion followed suit, becoming one of the first MAEAP-verified greenhouses in the state.
The Sklarczyks take pride in sharing newfound knowledge with others, no matter whether a person farms for a living or owns farmland for recreational purposes. As they humbly say, “it makes no difference as long as the ecosystem is benefited.”
To this point, Don Sklarczyk most recently has been working with the Otsego Conservation District to design a greenhouse for the production of native plants which can be used for restoration projects throughout northern Michigan.
“His help with our project exhibits his concern for natural resources at a large scale,” said Otsego Conservation District Chairperson John Middleton.
MFB is the state’s largest general farm organization, representing more than 47,000 farm families.
-30-
Editor’s Note: Visit http://www.michfb.com/annual for photos from the awards ceremony. For more information after Dec. 5, contact Agricultural Ecology Specialist Carrie Vollmer-Sanders at (800) 292-2680, ext. 2026.
MFB Ecology Leadership Award goes to Sklarczyk Seed Farm
This award announcement was made in advance of Michigan Farm Bureau’s 89th Annual Meeting. A photo from the award ceremony is now available at http://www.michfb.com/annual.
GRAND RAPIDS, Dec. 2, 2008 — Spotting a nook or cranny on the Sklarczyk Seed Farm that has not been touched by the green thumbs of father-and-son operators Don and Ben Sklarczyk is nearly impossible. From top to bottom and inside and out, the Johannesburg farm employs the newest and best practices for environmental stewardship, energy efficiency and wildlife conservation.
For their progressiveness, thoroughness and dedication to caring for the environment, the Sklarczyks were presented the Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) Ecology Leadership Award during a Dec. 2 awards ceremony at the MFB 89th Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids.
Previously known as the Award for Proactive Leadership in Ecology Management, the award goes to an individual, farm or partnership whose natural resources stewardship practices contribute to the protection of the environment, while maintaining or enhancing productivity and profitability.
As the award winner, the Sklarczyks took home a prize John Deere CX Gator, compliments of Voelker Implement Sales of Lake City and Big Rapids, Hamilton Farm Bureau, Harvey’s Ag Solutions, Syngenta Crop Protection, CJD Farm Consulting, and Dennings & Associates.
The farm was nominated for the award by the Otsgeo County Farm Bureau, and selected from a field of 21 nominees submitted by county Farm Bureaus across the state. According to Otsgeo County Farm Bureau President Linc Campbell, the Sklarczyks have demonstrated great skill and tact in balancing the needs of business and the environment.
The duo produces seed potatoes in a hydroponic greenhouse, supplying more than 75 percent of the base seed potatoes for Frito Lay. They also grow wheat and soybeans on 500 acres.
Over the years, they have made extensive improvements and incorporated many new practices in the name of environmental stewardship. Among the biggest advancements has been the use of high-tech field gear, such as global positioning system controls on tractors and yield monitors on harvest equipment. The yield monitors helped the men determine that in some fields the energy requirements to produce a crop outweighed yields; thus, it made more sense to use the fields for wildlife food plots.
The Sklarczyks have also gone to considerable lengths to protect the water quality of nearby Denny Lake. Water runoff that collects on the farm is captured in water retention basins and
funneled to a holding pond where the water can be purified. Acting like a dam, water levels in the pond are regulated so that gates allowing water to flow into Denny Lake are only opened once the water has reached optimum purification.
In 2005, the farm secured a permit from the state Department of Environmental Quality to collect, receive and consume used oil. The Sklarczyks have been able to reduce liquid petroleum gas consumption on the farm by using more than 5,000 gallons of used oil per year for heating purposes.
Pursuing voluntary verification in the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) was a natural next step for the farm. MAEAP verification signifies that a farm operates in compliance with all applicable state and federal environmental regulations and generally accepted farming practices. In 2007, the wheat and soybean arm of the business became verified in the MAEAP Farmstead and Cropping Systems. A year later the greenhouse portion followed suit, becoming one of the first MAEAP-verified greenhouses in the state.
The Sklarczyks take pride in sharing newfound knowledge with others, no matter whether a person farms for a living or owns farmland for recreational purposes. As they humbly say, “it makes no difference as long as the ecosystem is benefited.”
To this point, Don Sklarczyk most recently has been working with the Otsego Conservation District to design a greenhouse for the production of native plants which can be used for restoration projects throughout northern Michigan.
“His help with our project exhibits his concern for natural resources at a large scale,” said Otsego Conservation District Chairperson John Middleton.
MFB is the state’s largest general farm organization, representing more than 47,000 farm families.
-30-
Editor’s Note: Visit http://www.michfb.com/annual for photos from the awards ceremony. For more information after Dec. 5, contact Agricultural Ecology Specialist Carrie Vollmer-Sanders at (800) 292-2680, ext. 2026.
