Brandon and Monica Schafer, together with their children (left to right) Maddie, Max, Kenny and Kendrah are active in their 4-H club, plus several community, church and school organizations. As 4-H members, the Schafer kids show swine and cattle, and take part in several other 4-H activities.
The livestock, crops and pasture at Schafer Farms blend into the Goodhue County landscape.
The enclosded swine barns at Schafer Farms protect the pigs from weather extremes, disease and predators.
The Schafers use a variety of manure application techniques, depending on the terrain and type of crop being fertilized. On pastureland, they will summer-apply the manure nutrients using a Hydro AerWay toolbar with drag line. The AerWay knife blades pierce slots into the sod to place manure near plant roots. The practice enables the Schafers to improve beef cow stocking rates on their pasture land.
Schafer Farms, Inc., of Goodhue became the 11th Minnesota pork-producing family to earn the distinction of National Pork Industry Environmental Steward.
Schafer Farms family members include Brandon and Monica, Brian and Heather, and their parents, Lowell and Pat. The brothers are the sixth generation of Schafers to raise livestock and crops on this southeastern Minnesota farm and Brandon is quite certain a seventh generation will follow.
The annual award is the industry's highest environmental honor. Judges who represent pork producers and environmental organizations evaluate applicants on their manure management, water and soil conservation practices, odor-control strategies, farm aesthetics, neighbor relations, wildlife habitat promotion, innovative environmental protection ideas, and an essay on the meaning of environmental stewardship.
Brandon and Monica operate the swine enterprise for Schafer Farms, farrowing 1,600 sows and marketing approximately 38,000 pigs per year. His brother and parents manage the cow-calf herd and the crops.
The Schafers' take a multi-prong approach to environmental stewardship; with their overall goals including the ability to pass a viable, healthy livestock and cropping operation to the next generation and to publically show the compatibility between environmental stewardship and swine production.
To protect the rolling hills and karst topography of Goodhue County, the Schafers keep much of their land in pasture for their cattle herd, and with guidance from their Soil and Water Conservation District, the Schafers have installed terraces and maintain retention ponds to minimize erosion. Manure from the swine operation benefits both the crop and pasture land with the manure application rates matched to the fertilizer needs of the corn and grass acres.
To reduce soil compaction and minimize swine manure nutrients using a drag-line system and to reduce swine barn emissions, they continually plant trees and shrubs around exhaust fans and other key areas. Water conservation techniques in the swine barns have resulted in a 20 percent reduction in water usage.
Among practices Brandon has implemented to achieve these results are swinging waterers and presoaking rooms prior to hot-water cleaning. To foster good community relations, the Schafers annually host nearly 200 people at the farm's "pignic." This long-standing event typifies the respect this family has for their neighbors and community.
The 15-year-old National Pork Industry Environmental Steward award program is sponsored by the Pork Checkoff and National Hog Farmer magazine.
