KENTUCKY FAMILY WINS ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AWARD

DENVER, Colo. -- (August 3, 2000) - After leaving the family farm years ago to start careers outside rural America, Greg and Joan Ritter always felt something was missing. They sensed that they were moving away from the values that they’ve always held dear. She has worked as a schoolteacher, and he worked in a professional position for a manufacturing company.

In 1985, the couple decided to return to the lifestyle in which they were raised. They purchased a 240-acre farm at an estate auction. Formerly owned by a widow who couldn’t properly care for the property, the land and house were in deplorable condition.

While restoring the home and land, the Ritters wanted to create an environment that also would foster good ecological conditions. Today the farm is a shining example of land stewardship.

The couple’s efforts led them to become the Region I winners of the NCBA Environmental Stewardship Award. The award was announced today at the annual Cattle Industry Summer Conference. Sponsored by Dow AgroSciences, the award is given annually to cattle producers who exhibit innovative environmental stewardship while remaining profitable.

“This family took a  dilapidated farm and turned it into a productive operation,” said George Hall, NCBA president and a cattle producer from Mustang, Okla. “For the family to invest its resources into such a challenging undertaking indicates a commitment to the environment.”

The state Department of Natural Resources, Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service and the Kentucky Cattlemen's Association nominated the family for the award.

“Purchasing the neglected farm and creating our own farm was like starting a second career,” Mr. Ritter said. “This would prove to be quite a challenge and would take years to accomplish.”

The Ritters are part-time farmers. They raise 80 head of cattle and burley tobacco. The farm is rolling crop, pasture, hay and woodland that is adjacent to Barren River Kentucky State Park Reservoir.

The Kentucky Agriculture Water Quality Act requires that each agriculture and silviculture operation develop and implement a water quality plan by October 2001. This act requires each producer to develop the Best Management Practices that are needed to prevent pollution and sustain the quality of both the surface and ground waters.

Much of the soon-to-be required practices are already in place on the Ritter farm.

One of the first things the couple did when refurbishing the farm was to contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service. In conjunction with the agency, the Ritters developed a plan to do the following: Restore eroded natural waterways; correct critical erosion areas by establishing permanent vegetation; renovate pastures by soil testing and using the results to add lime and fertilizer; reseed with permanent grasses and legumes; and establish crop rotation for tobacco production.

“The process of building a quality environment for commercial cattle that would be sustainable, productive and profitable was to be an ongoing goal,” Mr. Ritter said.

The family uses a chain harrow to distribute animal wastes in pasture. The practice fertilizes the soil and prevents runoff of the manure into nearby streams and water sources.

The property has many flowing waterways, which can cause erosion if ignored. To slow the flow of water, thereby preventing speedy erosion, the family constructed a structure on one of the large waterways. Perforated drainage tile has been installed adjacent to grassed waterways to drain excess subsurface water without causing erosion. In areas with dense underbrush but no ground cover, the Ritters removed the underbrush and reseeded it with permanent forage.

The family also practices strip cropping. They grow the tobacco crop in a series of 12 row strips. They alternately cultivate and plant tobacco for two crop years. After that they plant vegetative cover, which remains untouched for two years. The cover helps to contain and control any erosion that may occur as the result of cultivation, and it also helps maintain quality of the soil.

To manage cattle waste, the family also recently added a waste management facility, which provides a covered, concrete area for feeding hay and for storing manure. The facility provides room to feed hay and to store the wastes of up to 100 cows.

“By storing the animal waste inside and distributing at the appropriate time of the year, runoff into nearby streams and Barren River Lake is controlled to prevent water contamination,” Ritter said. “Valuable nutrients from animal wastes can be stored and distributed at a time of year that is beneficial to the forage production.

“Farming responsibility is an on-going, ever changing, 365 day-a-year job that directly relates to a farmer’s livelihood,” Mr. Ritter said. “We have a love for the land and the animals in which we are entrusted. Caring for the animals, land and natural resources does not end at 5 p.m. for us.”

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See this winner's informational factsheet and reproducible images.

Producer-directed and consumer-focused, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association is the  trade association of America’s cattle farmers and ranchers, and the marketing organization for the largest segment of the nation’s food and fiber industry.