NCBA Names Top Environmental Stewards

They leave the land better than they found it.

Cattle producers are caretakers of more than their livestock. Their care for the land is written on the land itself. Most want to leave it in better shape than they found it. That's environmental stewardship, and it's worth noting - to the public, to policy makers and within the industry.

That's why the National Cattlemen's Beef Association created the Environmental Stewardship Award Program, funded by Dow AgroSciences and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

NCBA recently named seven outstanding caretakers of the land, selected by an independent expert panel, as regional winners in its 16th Environmental Stewardship Award Program. A national winner will be named during the NCBA Annual Convention, Jan. 31 through Feb. 3, 2007, in Nashville. Here's a look at this year's regional winners.

Blight Farms
Bill and Fran Blight, Art and Leanne Blight and Ken and Sue Blight, Albion, Michigan
For more than 20 years, the Blight family has followed a plan to protect and improve their environment, staying ahead of the curve as public environmental interest increased.

The farm includes a 570-head cattle feeding enterprise, farrow-to-finish swine operation and 2,200 acres of cropland. In the 1980s, the Blights upgraded their outside dirt feedlots to concrete-floored feeding barns to better manage manure and runoff. Rate of gain also improved.

Through soil testing and cooperative experiments, the Blights eliminated most phosphorus starter fertilizer and reduced nitrogen rates on their cropland. That both saved money and protected surface water. Their conservation tillage has saved soil erosion and improved water holding capacity. Windbreaks, filter strips, waste storage and chemical containment further safeguard water quality and soils.

Active in their state beef organizations and land use planning, the Blights have hosted tours for legislators, planning and zoning officials, school classes and producer groups.

Hayston Farms
Fred and Peggy Greer, Mansfield, Georgia
Conservation is more than an ethic for Fred and Peggy Greer. It's a commitment to their Lord and just "the right thing to do," Fred says. That philosophy continues to serve them well now that their cattle operation is in one of the fastest growing counties in the nation.

Just 45 miles east of Atlanta, the couple maintains 90 cows on 530 acres. They own another 725 acres of forestland nearby. The Greers demonstrate that a viable, working cattle enterprise can be part of a clean, healthy environment. They budget money each year toward environmental projects along with regular expenses.

Though his steer calves have topped the market, Greer is a grass farmer first. He practices rotational grazing, stockpiles grass, plants winter pastures, doesn't harvest hay and feeds little.

The Greers have established food plots, built ponds and managed timber for game and nongame animals. They've also designed and created new travel corridors for wildlife.

Through media, speeches, personal contacts and hosting tours on the farm, the Greers tell their conservation story.

Clan Farms
Nick and Sue Hunt, Atlantic, Iowa
Nick and Sue Hunt are the fourth generation of their family to feed cattle and farm in this area. Their operation includes a 120-cow commercial herd, 2,100 acres of cropland and two feedlots with one-time capacity of 3,400 head.

In the East Nishnabotna River Valley, water quality is a prime concern. The Hunts have built miles of terraces, tile lines, grassed waterways and buffer strips to prevent soil erosion. Today, the farm has 46 acres of riparian buffer strips. The family also planted several hundred trees along a 1.5-mile stretch of river to stabilize the banks, and planted trees around their feedlots to provide shade and control dust.

The feedlots now provide 90 percent of the phosphorus and potash and 10 percent of the nitrogen needed on cropland.

As community leaders, the family makes it a point to communicate with neighbors about what they're doing on the land and why, and to listen to concerns. That's helped make him a better farmer and better neighbor, Nick says.

San Pedro Ranch
Joseph Fitzsimmons and Pamela Howard, Carrizo Springs, Texas
Siblings Joseph Fitzsimmons and Pamela Howard assumed management of their family's 24,000-acre South Texas ranch in the 1980s. By following principles of holistic resource management, they've increased calving percentage, mature weights of whitetail bucks without supplemental feeding, and grass cover to improve rainfall capture and infiltration. Long-dormant springs and creeks on the ranch flow year-round.

Grazing management of native forages has increased ground cover, which has improved fawning grounds for deer and nesting cover for wild turkey and quail.

Ranch income is derived from leased hunting of quail and deer, cattle sales from the registered and commercial Beefmaster cow herds, and, when enough forage is available, a stocker program.

Fitzsimmons serves as the current chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

Thaler Land & Livestock Company
Dennis and Sandra Thaler and Kevin and Brandy Evans, LaGrange, Wyoming
The fourth generation of dedicated conservationists, Dennis Thaler and his family maintain a cow/calf and yearling operation on 20,000 deeded and 5,000 leased acres in southeastern Wyoming.

The Thalers built 15 miles of fence and laid 30 miles of water pipeline to facilitate rotational grazing of their 1,500-cow herd through 82 pastures. They seeded dry cropland to tame pasture to minimize erosion. In line with a nutrient management plan, the family closed two old yearling feedlots and built a new one to ensure that runoff could be contained and used on an adjacent meadow. On land leased from the state, they reclaimed a 40-acre sand dune, converting it to usable pasture.

Concerned about the spread of noxious weeds in his area, Dennis cochaired a group of ranchers, sportsmen, wildlife interests and local, state and federal agencies to address the problem with an integrated weed management program. The program significantly reduced the weed infestation to benefit both grazing and wildlife.

Bar T Bar and Flying M Ranches working together as the Diablo Trust
Bob, Judy, Warren and Spencer Prosser and Jack, Mandy, Kit and Jane Metzger, Winslow and Flagstaff, Arizona
Since the 1950s, these neighboring ranch families have worked together to manage and improve a combined 74,000 acres of deeded land and 352,000 acres of public land. In the 1990s, they recognized long-term sustainability of their business was being threatened by increasing urban influences, public recreation, antigrazing sentiment and development pressure.

In response, they initiated The Diablo Trust, a nonprofit, land-management collaborative group. It's an alliance of environmentalists, ranchers, government land managers, educators, scientists and recreationists who share the families' concern for the land and its wildlife.

The families led participants to create research and educational programs to monitor changes in the land, improve stewardship, resolve controversies and share information with their community.

Through these relationships, they've also tapped funding to accelerate on-the-ground improvements. New water systems benefited grazing distribution and wildlife. They are currently completing work on 32,000 acres of grassland restoration, which is reducing soil erosion and improving antelope habitat and vegetative diversity. By partnering with NRCS and others, the ranches have been proactive with their management practices and land projects, ensuring their profitability and open space for the community in the future.

Brown's Gelbvieh Ranch
Gabe, Shelly, Kelly and Paul Brown, Bismarck, North Dakota
As a child on her family's ranch, Shelly Brown hand-hoed weeds out of tree plantings for windbreaks. Later, she and Gabe bought that land and more, and planted another 30,536 feet of trees. They're working on another 38,200 feet. But tree-planting is only part of their conservation story.

On 4,000 owned or leased acres, the Browns rotationally graze 250 registered Gelbvieh cows and 50 to 250 yearlings through 46 paddocks; farm 1,000 acres; manage 600 acres of alfalfa; and devote 465 acres to a wildlife preserve.

Gabe has practiced zero-till farming since 1994, improving soil health and yields while reducing erosion. He's spoken extensively on converting Conservation Reserve Program acres to pasture, planned grazing systems and integrating livestock into a zero-till cropping system. The family has hosted many tours, including visitors from 41 states and 14 foreign countries. Gabe was instrumental in developing the North Dakota Private Grazing Lands Coalition Mentoring Network, a concept that's spread to several states.