The entire reason our farm has a voice online is because we know transparency is important. Dean started this blog and our social media, and after his passing, I took over. I have tried to show the good and the not so great sides of farming. Today I am talking about something I hoped to never need to.
Just a week before we hosted the dairy breakfast, a neighbor let us know that there had been a fish kill in the Sheboygan River, and it was near our farm. We wanted to be proactive, so we started looking at anything that could have leaked into the small creek that goes through our land and feeds into the river. We found that our tank that holds the 28% fertilizer had developed a leak. It wasn’t a huge hole, just a small leak, similar to a dripping faucet in a house. We immediately called the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to report the leak. They were already investigating the fish kill and arrived at the farm soon after our call. We worked with them to make sure everything was dealt with properly.
This is the tank that leaked. See if you can spot the crack.
So what is 28% Fertilizer? It’s a liquid form of nitrogen. We use it to give our corn plants a boost when they are still small. As I have talked about before, we do extensive soil testing, and only apply fertilizer where it is needed. We have a tank that we keep on farm to store the liquid fertilizer in during the spring planting season. The tank was stored on concrete, and when the crack developed, the liquid ended up entering the creek that feeds the river.
Here is a zoomed-in photo of the crack that allowed the fertilizer to leak.
Unfortunately, while we made immediate changes to keep this from happening in the future, there isn’t anything we can do to undo what happened. Just from a business point of view, this was a very big problem. As you may have heard, fertilizer is in short supply and is very expensive. We also now have large fines to pay to the DNR. But outside of the business, it’s been a real gut punch. We’ve worked hard to build a good reputation in our community. Seeing that reputation dinged definitely stings. As an outdoorsman and someone who loves to fish, this stings on a personal level.
Accidents happen, despite our best intentions and planning. The bottom line is that this is something that no one wanted and didn’t happen because we were being careless by design. That doesn’t mean that we don’t take full responsibility. An accident is an accident, but that doesn’t mean we don’t realize the impact.
Going into hosting the dairy breakfast, we were feeling like we had egg on our face. But that day reminded us that opening the doors to our farm as we do is exactly what we should be doing. The transparency we feel is so important is what helps us move forward from here. As farmers, we know our responsibility doesn’t end at the farm gate. Accidents may happen, but our dedication to our community and taking care of our environment continues.