The Adamski family of Seymour, Wis., has been selected as the 2024 Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Award recipient. The family will receive a check for $10,000.

The Leopold award honors farmers, ranchers and forestland owners who go above and beyond in their management of soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on working land.

Rick Adamski and Valerie Dantoin, who own and operate Full Circle Farm, were revealed as the award recipients at the Nov. 14 meeting of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Board in Madison. A video celebrating the Shawano County farm family’s conservation success will be premiered during the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting on Dec. 8.

Committed to conservation

“We bank our wealth in the soil and the nutrients stored there,” Valerie says of her family’s approach to farming.

Their 240-acre farm is covered with a green, protective blanket year-round thanks to the managed grazing system that Valerie and husband Rick have established.

Soil tests routinely show their pastures’ organic matter is 2% higher than neighboring tilled corn and soybean fields. It is estimated that every 1% increase in organic matter helps hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre, which helps the land withstand deluges and droughts.

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In addition to improving the soil’s organic matter levels and ability to infiltrate water, permanently covered pastures help sequester carbon. The couple have followed the guidelines for biodiversity, soil and water conservation to maintain their farm’s organic certification since the 1990s.

“If we could not farm in an environmentally friendly way, we wouldn’t farm at all,” Valerie says.

That sentiment means making sure their cattle herd size matches the carrying capacity of their land. Since retiring from milking dairy cows in 2014, they rotationally graze a herd of 100 beef cattle. For 25 years, they have composted all their cattle’s manure during the winter months.

Farm diversification

At Full Circle Farm, Rick and Valerie’s son, Andrew, and his partner, Heather Toman, are helping usher in its next life stage — a return to a diversified farm. They manage about 60 pigs and a flock of laying hens on pasture, raise 10 acres of vegetables, and have established a Community Supported Agriculture business. 

Full Circle Farm feeds about 1,000 people weekly through 150 CSA shares and sales at farmers markets. Andrew experiments with biochar and vertical tillage on vegetable crops as part of his master’s degree research on soil health.

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Rick and Valerie have founded two farm cooperatives focused on fair prices for sustainably produced food and ensuring that other conservation-minded farms have access to midsize markets.

Full Circle Farm regularly hosts field days, including events targeted to female landowners who want to learn about establishing pollinator habitat and riparian buffers. Valerie co-founded the Wisconsin Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program and is a conservation coach for Wisconsin Women in Conservation. She previously led GrassWorks, a statewide organization that promotes grazing’s conservation benefits. Rick served as president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union and has been a consultant for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Conservation efforts

The Adamski family has planted several hundred shrubs and oak and cedar trees. They also installed riparian buffers along a waterway that were expanded to 30 feet. Fence lines and hedgerows border Full Circle Farm’s 25 fields. These areas and a farm pond provide habitat and migration corridors for badgers, foxes, pheasants, green herons, sandhill cranes and Hungarian partridges.

“It is ethical to leave a corner of the farm as wetlands for frogs and migrating waterfowl,” Valerie explains. “The ethical thing to do is to care for the land, soil and water as if our children’s children are the ones who will farm after we are gone. It is ethical to enjoy the sunset and see the fruits of your labors, to revel in the richness of the land all around you, and to never once wonder what it’s worth.”

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Leopold awards

The Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust present Leopold Conservation Awards to private landowners in 28 states. In Wisconsin, the award is presented with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin.

Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the award recognizes landowners who inspire others to consider conservation opportunities on their land. In his influential 1949 book, “A Sand County Almanac,” Leopold calls for “a land ethic,” an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage.

Earlier this year, Wisconsin landowners were encouraged to apply or be nominated for the award. Nominations were reviewed by an independent panel of agricultural and conservation leaders from Wisconsin.

Among the many outstanding Wisconsin landowners nominated for the award were finalists Bartling’s Manitowish Cranberry Co. of Manitowish Waters in Vilas County, Glacial Lake Cranberries of Wisconsin Rapids in Wood County, and Joe Hovel of Conover in Vilas County.

“These award recipients are examples of how Aldo Leopold’s land ethic is alive and well today,” says Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation president and CEO. “Their dedication to conservation is both an inspiration to their peers as well as a reminder to all how important thoughtful agriculture is to clean water, healthy soil and wildlife habitat.”

“Rick and Valerie are successful farmers, community leaders and stewards of Wisconsin’s land and water,” says Randy Romanski, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. “The Adamski family exemplifies how to practice conservation, operate a successful business, and educate others on lessons learned in the field and on the farm. Thank you to Rick, Valerie and their family for their work to ensure markets for farms, practice stewardship and provide learning opportunities to farmers of all backgrounds.”

The Leopold Conservation Award in Wisconsin is made possible thanks to the generous contributions from American Farmland Trust, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Sand County Foundation, Culver’s, Compeer Financial, McDonald’s, The Nature Conservancy, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board, Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association, and Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association.

To view all past recipients of the Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Award, visit sandcountyfoundation.org.

Sand County Foundation contributed to this story.