At WenMar Farms, the Tuscarawas River provides a constant reminder of the importance of conservation. Wendell Waters, president of the family farm, explains, “It’s right there. We farm on both sides of it.” By carefully managing the manure from their 3,500-sow hog operation, WenMar Farms not only protects water quality, but also recycles manure nutrients as fertilizer on their crop ground. The Waters family protects their land from soil loss as well, correcting trouble spots like an eroding riverbank on land they recently purchased.

For all their conservation efforts, Waters and his family are being honored with a 2017 Ohio Conservation Farm Family Award. The award will be presented Sept. 21 at the Farm Science Review. Deb Bigelow, district administrator for the Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation District, nominated WenMar Farms for the award.

“WenMar Farms demonstrates that the best way to care for land and water resources is through responsible use of fertilizer and manure, along with responsibly producing pork,” she notes.

Wendell Waters grew up farming with his family in Coshocton County, and then attended Ohio State before returning home and teaching for four years. He and his wife, Marcia, began their own farm in 1969 and merged their names to create the farm name, WenMar. Today, their three adult children, Greg Waters, Erin Ferris and Angie Edie, all work with them on the farm. The farm has grown over the years to provide opportunities for the entire family, says Greg. “I’m lucky to work with my family every day.”

In addition to the home farm in Coshocton County, the family farms land in Tuscarawas County and across the state in Madison County. In all, they farm about 4,000 acres of cropland. Their hog operation includes two sow facilities and a gilt development facility. The family manages breeding, gestation and farrowing on their own farm, and then works with contract growers through Gerber and Sons to feed the weaned pigs out to market weight.

Manure managers
WenMar Farms runs manure nutrient tests every year and tests soil every four or five years using a 1-acre grid system. Those tests help them place manure nutrients where they’re needed for crop production, explains Greg. “We determine where, economically and environmentally, to put that manure.” They use a drag-line applicator and inject the liquid manure below the soil surface. They work with an agronomist to determine application rates and can vary the rates as they cover a field to apply the correct rate for each section of the field. Placing manure below the surface, in contact with the soil, reduces odor and helps preserve nutrients, Greg adds. “If you can smell it, there’s potential you’re losing nutrients.”

Manure is typically applied in the fall, following crop harvest. Soil conditions are usually better in the fall than in the spring, when injecting manure can leave clods in the fields, Wendell explains. Although most of the manure is applied on their own land, they also have agreements with neighboring farmers to apply some manure, so nutrients are distributed where they’re needed. The family even considered manure distribution as they constructed their hog facilities. Instead of grouping all the buildings together, they spread them around the farm to avoid concentrating manure in one area.

Proper mixing of manure in storage pits is important for consistent nutrient distribution, adds Wendell. Before they begin pumping out manure, they agitate the pit to eliminate variations in nutrient content within the pit. “It does vary quite a bit from top to bottom,” he explains.

In addition to careful manure management, WenMar Farms recycles nutrients through mortality composting. Mortality losses on the farm are disposed of in sawdust compost. The carcasses break down gradually and the resulting compost is used to add organic matter to the soil.

On their cropland, the Waters family raises corn and soybeans using minimal tillage. “We’ve always liked to leave a lot of residue on the surface,” Wendell explains. Nearly all the corn they raise is used for swine feed, and they raise some corn after corn to supply the grain they need. At times, fields with corn after corn can develop heavy residue, so they do some chisel-plowing to redistribute and manage the residue. They’ve also started experimenting with rye cover crops after soybeans to protect the soil surface and stockpile nutrients. As the cover crop residue breaks down the following spring, it releases nutrients, making them available to the following crop.

Riverbank stabilization
On most of their land, soil erosion is not much of a concern, explains Wendell. “We live in a relatively flat area. With reasonable conservation, it will not erode.” Even so, they watch for trouble spots and adjust their practices to control erosion. “Where we do have issues, they need to be properly attended to,” he stresses.

For instance, three years ago they began farming a piece of land with serious erosion along the riverbank. They worked with the Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation District, the Army Corps of Engineers and EPA to develop a plan to stabilize the riverbank. They reformed slopes and lined part of the river bank with concrete to protect 1,000 feet of riverbank. The project also included willow plantings to re-establish vegetation and shade along the river. Willows can regrow from cuttings, so, to plant them, they drove 3-foot long willow stakes into the ground, Greg recalls. “They ranged from the size of a pencil to the size of a baseball bat.”

In addition to the conservation practices on their cropland, the Waters family uses solar power to supply about a third of the electrical power at one of their barn sites. The solar field was installed on the hog building through a program offered by their electricity supplier, AEP.

The family also actively manages wooded areas of their farms by following forestry management plans and by controlling grapevines and invasive species.

Conservation is an important part of the legacy Wendell and Marcia created, and their children are working to carry that legacy forward to provide opportunities for their own children, says Greg. “We want to leave this a better place than when we started.”

WenMar Farms

The family: Farm founders Wendell and Marcia Waters have three grown children, who are involved with the farm: son Greg Waters and his wife, Jenny, are the parents of Cannon and Brynn; daughter Angie Edie and her husband, Randy, are the parents of Mallory and Alli; and daughter Erin Ferris and her husband, Ryan, are the parents of Breyer, Kailey and Megan.

The farm: About 4,000 acres of crop land in Coshocton, Tuscarawas and Madison counties is used for production of corn and soybeans. A 3,500-sow swine herd is housed at two locations, plus a third facility is devoted to gilt development. Breeding, gestation and farrowing is managed on the farm, and then weaned pigs are fed to market weight by contract growers through Gerber and Sons. Intensive soil testing and careful manure management protects water quality and recycles manure nutrients as fertilizer on the cropland.

Nominator: Deb Bigelow, district administrator for the Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation District

Leadership: Wendell served as Coshocton SWCD supervisor from 1976 to 1984. He is also active in the Ohio Pork Producers, Coshocton County Farm Bureau and Isleta United Methodist Church. Greg has been a Coshocton SWCD supervisor from 2005 until the present. He is also active in the Ohio Pork Producers, Coshocton County Farm Bureau and the Ridgewood Athletic Boosters.

Community outreach: WenMar farms has hosted multiple farm tours over the years for county officials, teachers, the agribusiness community, SWCD supervisors and others. The family has also demonstrated modern hog production at youth events using a tabletop model hog facility.