MONROE - Dale and Karen Signer are this year's Outstanding Conservation Farmers by the Green County Department of Land Conservation.
They will receive the award on Saturday, May 31 at the Green County Breakfast on the Farm.
The Signers own 240 acres in Cadiz township, bought in 1978. They farm with Dale's son and daughter-in-law, Josh and Kristine, who own 141 acres.
The Signers raise about 150 acres of corn, 155 acres of alfalfa and 40 acres of soybeans. They milk 83 Holsteins, as well as having replacement heifers and dry cows.
Nearly all the Signers' cropland is farmed in contour strips to reduce erosion. Dale started to install them in the early 1980s.
He has installed nearly 2,000 feet of grassed waterways to also reduce erosion in concentrated flow areas. In 2003, he had a 400-foot-long diversion built above the barn to keep clean water from entering the barnyard. Also in 2003 he had two old wells properly abandoned to prevent pollutants from entering the groundwater. This year, Dale is having a nutrient management plan written to help cut the costs on fertilizer.
Dale is president of the Browntown-Cadiz-Jordan Fire Bureau, and a member of the Green County Farm Bureau and Honey Creek Watershed.
They will receive the award on Saturday, May 31 at the Green County Breakfast on the Farm.
The Signers own 240 acres in Cadiz township, bought in 1978. They farm with Dale's son and daughter-in-law, Josh and Kristine, who own 141 acres.
The Signers raise about 150 acres of corn, 155 acres of alfalfa and 40 acres of soybeans. They milk 83 Holsteins, as well as having replacement heifers and dry cows.
Nearly all the Signers' cropland is farmed in contour strips to reduce erosion. Dale started to install them in the early 1980s.
He has installed nearly 2,000 feet of grassed waterways to also reduce erosion in concentrated flow areas. In 2003, he had a 400-foot-long diversion built above the barn to keep clean water from entering the barnyard. Also in 2003 he had two old wells properly abandoned to prevent pollutants from entering the groundwater. This year, Dale is having a nutrient management plan written to help cut the costs on fertilizer.
Dale is president of the Browntown-Cadiz-Jordan Fire Bureau, and a member of the Green County Farm Bureau and Honey Creek Watershed.