To utilize manure created by his chickens, Mike Bronkema became an early pioneer in composting. He was featured on the cover of the December 2001 issue of Michigan Farmer, labeled as a “Composting Poster Boy.”

It was the early beginnings of this first-generation, Holland farmer’s quest to do things right — to be the best environmental steward of his farm’s natural resources as possible.

Back in 1992, Mike and his wife, Lona, bought an existing 25,000-head pullet operation and were selling the birds to a west Michigan broker. With 100 acres to add to Lona’s father’s 40 acres across the road, they were conventional farming with tillage and chemical inputs.

Just four years into the operation, Mike, who was 34 at the time, made the decision to become a full-time farmer by expanding the operation to 75,000 pullets.

“I was in construction building high-end homes in the Holland area and working 10-plus hours a day,” he says. “I had four young children at home, ranging in age from 1 to 8, and I wanted to be more with my family. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I saw it as an opportunity.”

A couple years later, Mike realized his farm was creating more manure than could be managed on his property. Through the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program, the precursor to the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, he sought the advice of Michigan State University Extension’s compost educator, Charles Gould, and started working through the Natural Resources Conservation Service to obtain an Environmental Quality Incentives Program grant.

Compost system created
That led to the installation of an in-vessel compost system and facility. Mike worked with Grand Rapids-based Herman Miller furniture company to incorporate its sawdust byproduct with the manure to make compost.

A soil consultant was hired to help manage the composting process and to better identify nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium ratios. At peak production in 2006, the farm was producing about 900 yards of compost annually and was selling to Morgan Composting in Sears, Mich.

The compost business was just the beginning of a new way of farming for the Bronkemas. They also used NRCS funding to implement buffer strips along public ditches, install tree lines, a roadway and a fueling system. By 2004, the farm had completed all the necessary steps to become verified in the Farmstead System through the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program. It was the first farm to do so in Ottawa County. A year later it was certified in the Cropping System.

“We really care about stewardship, so we were already on that path,” says Lona, who helps with the farm, is a homemaker and home-schooled their now-grown children. “We were close to being verified; we just needed a few extra steps and to complete the paperwork.”

Mike adds, “It was relatively painless because we were already doing many of the MAEAP requirements. And I believe a lot of Michigan farms are doing the same.”

The Bronkemas have extra insight into the program now that their daughter Sara, recently graduated with a master’s degree from Michigan State University in animal science, is Ottawa County’s new MAEAP technician. Her job is to help growers through the verification process.

“I sit down and evaluate operations. And just last week, I helped a farmer, who was doing everything right already, start the process,” Sara says.

Change in direction
In 2004, the Bronkemas were faced with a dilemma that many in agriculture face: Go bigger or get out.

“We were looking at a huge investment to replace cages, plus the rules and regulations for siting were prohibitive for expansion,” says Mike, noting that larger farms capitalizing on scale of production were driving the prices down. “Even with 75,000 pullets, we had become the small guys in the industry, and we were eating into our equity.”

So, the Bronkemas began the transition out of pullets. “The kids were interested in raising Suffolk sheep for 4-H,” says Mike, who was looking to fill an empty chicken coop. In 2005 they added Polypays, and now the flock has about 120 ewes. The compost business is managed in windrows utilizing sheep manure collected from the barn in the winter and sawdust from northern sawmills.

The grass-fed sheep are raised for meat and wool, and sold through five farmers markets within a 60-mile radius of the farm.

For the safety of the family, the Bronkemas stopped using anhydrous ammonia. It was the beginning of a migration to organic production on their now 160 acres. The farm has grown organic, corn, soybeans, dry beans and grains now for 10 years.

“On average, you can’t make a living on 160 acres using the conventional American model for farming,” Mike says. “We looked at vegetables.”

But to create a more defined market, Mike found the edible bean market was underserved on the west side of Michigan, especially for heirloom dry beans. The farm is now producing 23 varieties of dry beans and selling online and at farmers markets. To help clean the beans and sell at the market, both Lona’s and Mike’s parents help.

Organic production on the farm consists of 20 acres of beans, 20 acres of small grains, 20 acres of corn and the remainder used for rotational grazing.

Organically raised Belted Galloway cows were added in 2013 and are grazed behind the sheep for parasite control. The beef is sold in quarters at the farmers markets.

The sheep are the only component of the farm not yet organic, as about 25% need parasite control during the summer grazing season.

Better soil
Mike has a keen eye on his soil diversity and is constantly looking for ways to improve nutrient efficiency, bacteria, fungi and mineral content. What sets the farm apart, Sara explains, is the crops and the pasture ground are rotated. Ground is pastured for three to five years before crops are returned.

“That way we can really reap the benefits of the grazing animals turning biomass into organic matter,” she says.

The farm has increased its organic matter from 1% to 4% in the last 15 years. According to soil analysis collected each of those 15 years, the phosphorus levels on the farm are dropping, which Mike attributes to the compost.

The Bronkemas are considering adding a third animal species to the farm as a possible succession strategy with one of their children or through a mentor program.

Education is a big part of their “give back” mentality. Several groups have toured the farm, including a recent group of MAEAP personnel.

For the last 10 years, during the first weekend in March, the farm hosts an open house for upward of 300 people — more than 700 one year. People are invited to watch sheep being shorn and interactive demos on spinning, felting and knitting. Lambs can be petted; wool products are for sale; and the family is eager to answer questions.

“We like to reach out,” Mike says. “At the farmers markets, it’s been great and sometimes interesting to interact with the nonfarming community. I was spinning wool at the market, and I actually had someone believe that you had to kill the sheep to get the wool.”

MAEAP modeled by other states

“When Gov. [Rick] Snyder codified the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program into law, he set a goal for us to reach 5,000 verifications,” says Joe Kelpinski, MAEAP manager. “We knew it would be hard work. But with the help of partners and producers, the goal is now in sight.”

MAEAP has come a long way since its first verification in 2002. Now, in 2018, MAEAP is only 161 verifications away from that major 5,000 verifications milestone for the program. To commemorate this moment, MAEAP is planning a celebration for its partners and producers who have helped build and shape the program.

The voluntary program started in the late 1990s when the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, farmers, nongovernmental agencies and others came together to build an environmental program to help producers with the changing landscape of agriculture.

“The 1990s were a very interesting time for agriculture,” Kelpinski says. “People were concerned about the environment and worried about what steps farmers were taking. Farmers stepped up and formed a program that would help take a proactive approach to best management practices.”

MAEAP works with farmers to identify and reduce environmental practices on farms that could result in groundwater or surface water contamination. The program evaluates different aspect of farms based on which of the four MAEAP systems they are working through.

The four systems are Farmstead, Cropping, Livestock and Forest, Wetlands, and Habitat. After reducing risks on the farm associated with one of the systems, a MAEAP verifier visits the farm to make sure the farmer has implemented best management practices.

“A cornerstone of our program is confidentiality. Our technicians and verifiers work with each farmer or landowner to make sure their needs are met and answer any questions they may have,” Kelpinski says. “We are here to help.”

MAEAP has continued to be at the forefront of environmental stewardship. Many states, including Missouri, Maryland and Virginia, have modeled programs after MAEAP.

“It is an honor to have our program be an example to other states,” Kelpinski says. “Even though we are leading the way, we still are looking to improve systems and practices here.”

The program is focusing on improving conservation practices. MAEAP is working with Michigan State University and other organizations on an Edge of Field water monitoring project in the Western Lake Erie Basin. The project will look at the benefits of controlled drainage structures on reducing nutrient loads to surface waters.