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| Water quality management in action | |||
| 05/09/2006 | |||
Conservation. Agricultural production. Family. They all come together on one Union County farm. Fred Wallender, a Union Soil and Water Conservation District Director, and his son Tim often bicker jokingly about a few farm management issues. But there’s no doubt how they really feel about running their La Grande farm together. “It’s wonderful,” Fred says. “There’s a love and partnership between us that just fills up my cup.” One passion Fred and Tim share is for conservation work. The Wallenders have completed a variety of projects on their farm that benefit natural resources and their bottom line. Bright yellow and red watering troughs are one of their most visible projects. The troughs are insulated to prevent freezing in cold weather, providing a reliable water source for the Wallenders’ cattle and calves. The troughs also allow Fred and Tim to limit animals’ access to Ladd Creek and its tributaries, letting streamside vegetation grow. “We still graze the riparian area lightly and sometimes burn parts of it. We see a lot of new growth on the grasses and shrubs after the disturbance,” Tim says. The result is a mix of willows, shrubs, and grasses that protect the streambanks from high flows, provide wildlife habitat, provide shade over the creek, which enhances water quality. The watering troughs are located throughout the farm, which allows the Wallenders to move the animals to different locations each year for winter feeding and calving. “The troughs allow us to rotate the winter feeding and birthing areas and spread manure and nutrients evenly throughout the farm,” explains Fred. The manure distribution is just one part of a soil building and nutrient management system that also includes soil testing and importing organic matter from a local wood products facility. After the animals winter in a particular area, Fred and Tim plant potatoes on that field the following spring. They follow the potatoes with a no-till planting of alfalfa. Potatoes and alfalfa are irrigated with pivot sprinklers. Fred and Tim recently upgraded to the pivots from a flood-irrigation system, which improves irrigation efficiency, conserves water, and prevents runoff to creeks. The Wallenders have worked closely with the Union Soil and Water Conservation District on several of these projects. The SWCD has helped secure grant funding from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and the Environmental Quality Incentive Program for the troughs, sprinklers and a project still in progress to create a bioswale. The bioswale is a mound of earth that catches any runoff from one of the feeding areas. This area is steep and directly above Ladd Creek. “We are putting this in to be doubly sure that we are not contributing any pollution to the creek,” Fred said. “We just don’t want that to happen.” Fred and Tim are proud of their accomplishments. They keep a photo album to document the changes on the farm over the years. The work isn’t over yet. The Wallenders are convinced there are many more opportunities for improvements on their farm. “You never get it all done,” Tim said. “Every time you think you have things just about the way you want it, you get another idea. Then it is time to start all over again.” More SWCD success stories |
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