MONROE - Tina and Bruce Duemler have a conservation ethic that permeates their lives.
The Duemlers will receive the Green County Department of Land Conservation Wildlife Habitat Development award Saturday, May 31 at the Green County Breakfast on the Farm.
Twenty-four years ago, the Duemlers bought a beef and sheep farm of 50 acres in southwest Monroe township. The farm sits in a valley and has a tributary to Smock Creek running through it.
In the mid- to late 1980s, the Duemlers tried no till corn in some fields, but the yield was poor, so they converted cropland to a drought-tolerant timothy and trefoil pasture.
They took cattle off the streambanks, fenced it and sloped 865 feet of streambanks in 1985. Their main motive for doing this was water quality - it is very important to them to do their part in keeping the water supply clean.
The Duemlers planted 500 trees and bushes along the stream for wildlife habitat and to filter any sediment or fertilizer runoff.
There was a small windbreak behind the house that they have continually added to - realizing the multiple benefits of reduced wind erosion, wildlife habitat and a shield from winter's fierce winds.
In 2001, The Duemlers bought 221 acres; about 40 acres of that is woodland and the rest is cropland. Of the remaining cropland, about 133 acres is in cropland rotation.
Tina Duemler said maintaining what they have is a big job. They do prescribed burns on their prairie and are in Managed Forest Law (a woodland management program). They produce low input hay by managing the manure that's spread on it.
Around the farmstead they are shifting toward sustainable landscaping to conserve natural resources; reducing pollution (air, noise, water); maximizing the ecological function and still remaining attractive.
Tina plants native prairie plants and doesn't have to mow them. By planting more perennials, there is less need to water. She has a compost barrel that recycles their table scraps, which in turn fertilizes the garden.
The Duemlers will receive the Green County Department of Land Conservation Wildlife Habitat Development award Saturday, May 31 at the Green County Breakfast on the Farm.
Twenty-four years ago, the Duemlers bought a beef and sheep farm of 50 acres in southwest Monroe township. The farm sits in a valley and has a tributary to Smock Creek running through it.
In the mid- to late 1980s, the Duemlers tried no till corn in some fields, but the yield was poor, so they converted cropland to a drought-tolerant timothy and trefoil pasture.
They took cattle off the streambanks, fenced it and sloped 865 feet of streambanks in 1985. Their main motive for doing this was water quality - it is very important to them to do their part in keeping the water supply clean.
The Duemlers planted 500 trees and bushes along the stream for wildlife habitat and to filter any sediment or fertilizer runoff.
There was a small windbreak behind the house that they have continually added to - realizing the multiple benefits of reduced wind erosion, wildlife habitat and a shield from winter's fierce winds.
In 2001, The Duemlers bought 221 acres; about 40 acres of that is woodland and the rest is cropland. Of the remaining cropland, about 133 acres is in cropland rotation.
Tina Duemler said maintaining what they have is a big job. They do prescribed burns on their prairie and are in Managed Forest Law (a woodland management program). They produce low input hay by managing the manure that's spread on it.
Around the farmstead they are shifting toward sustainable landscaping to conserve natural resources; reducing pollution (air, noise, water); maximizing the ecological function and still remaining attractive.
Tina plants native prairie plants and doesn't have to mow them. By planting more perennials, there is less need to water. She has a compost barrel that recycles their table scraps, which in turn fertilizes the garden.