SMARTvt.org Dedication to Preserving Agri-AmericaBy Mark Renkert, Mcsl

On any given weekend at dawn, business advisors from SMARTvt.org assemble at a pre-agreed upon farm to provide manual labor and solutions to Vermont farmers.

This comes at a particularly important time in Vermont history as Jennie Nelson, an Agri-Rep from Senator Bernie Sanders office says that one farm a month has been closing for the last several years.

“We have a farm,” say Nelson, “my husband Bill works it every day and we are worried about Vermont Farms.”

SMARTvt.org wanted to do something in preserving Vermont farms and is making a difference.

So they assembled a Task Force.

A recent task – 100+ year-old Wilcox Dairy: removing 100+ tons manure – transporting it up to 10 miles away; continuing to run calving, milking, maintenance operation for mid-size 100+ year old dairy operation in Manchester, Vermont. Temperature: 31°F, Snowflake Cloudy. Today’s mission: No breaks, no food, work until dark non-stop – pay attention and don’t get hurt.

A fire had destroyed the previous modern dairy barn and Wilcox replaced it with a Hoop Barn like this one.

With this system daily manure is not removed and a lactating cow can produce 150lbs of manure per day. The Wilcox Hoop Barn doesn’t have a manure removal system and instead layers dry clean saw dust atop the old wet manure in layers that over a Vermont Winter can be 20+ feet thick but the manure on the bottom ferments creating a heat and warms the cows.

Another problem with the Wilcox Systems is cow hoof maintenance and Treponema bacteria poses a real threat to herd hoof health but Wilcox requires all cows go through 3 to 4 ionic copper sulfate footbaths per week. The copper sulfate is a traditional preventative anti-microbial and healing treatment.

Spring cleaning presents a big challenge during Mud Season.

Next SMARTvt workers used an excavator inside the Hoop Barn to dig down and start removing the manure and transporting via manure spreads and heavy-industrial dump trucks. And moving hundreds of tons of semi-solid manure for business-men-volunteers required rapid acclimatization that was not easy.

The Heavy Dump was used to transport loads the furthest away and required operating on soft soil that could have easily created a slippery hazard that halted operation. The day’s operation was cool and dry and the truck never became stuck.

Simultaneously the team delivered manure wagons and spread the manure onto the fields.

As the day wore on - manure wagons were repaired, tractors were repaired and heavy loads wheeled down winding roads.

During one discussion the farmer questioned how the Wilcox Farm was going to pay for the nearly 32 bags of corn seed they were going to need to plant their 90 acres.

They were going to need to pre-pay for the herd’s next year’s meals and the bill was going to be over $20,000. They needed to plant 28,000 kernels per acre and the corn is sold in 80,000 fungicide / pesticide treated kernel bags that weigh between 35 – 65lbs. Depending on fertility, seed corn is planted at a rate of 25,000 – 35,000 kernels per acre. Farm-owner Gerald Wilcox will plant 28,500 kernels per acre.

How were they going to pay for seed?

During a highly messy manure wagon, lying under the laden wagon and turning wrenches in the repair in a muddy field SMARTvt volunteer Mark Renkert noticed machines, old trucks and tons of rusting metal hulks aside the field. Worn out equipment that was neatly arrayed in an informal junk yard.

Renkert, an economic development specialist from SMARTvt.org – SMART Holdings USA noted that scrap steel was valuable in the current market place at $10 per hundred weight a term that farmers now well.

Renkert estimated that there was several tons of scrap metal that would be valued over $10,000.

The following day: Renkert telephoned Bill, Bob, and Loretta Brownell, of North Benninton, Vermont and principals of Walloomsac Recycling (http://www.walloomsacrecycling.com) and a long conversation discovered that Brownell was seeking expand his resource recycling enterprise Agri-business and the Farm Community.

Brownell’s family, had been in the scrap metal reclamation business for 149 years, and could remove the old metal and the fluids within those machines that could cause environmental concerns and give the farmers much needed cash for the material.

SMARTvt.org created a Vermont farmers alliance with Brownell and Walloomsac Recyling was launched offering farmers a needed cash resource and a powerful environmental cleanup and recycling resource to farmers and Agri-business.

From the proceeds of the steel and iron removal Wilcox Dairy had the cash to buy the seed corn and some extra.

All in a day’s work for the SMARTvt.org Team.