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From YouTube: EcoChat | Agricultural Watershed
Description
Kevin Dietzel of Lost Lake Farm talks about his agricultural watershed. EcoChats are local experts and City staff presenting high-energy, short lectures about conservation.
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It
was
drained
in
the
1890s
to
make
1,500
more
acres
of
cropland
and
all
of
that
they
built
a
really
big
drainage,
ditch
and
that
all
drains
into
the
skunk
river,
so
we're
in
the
Ames
watershed-
and
this
is
just
flicking
through
some
pictures
of
our
cows
in
our
farm.
So
our
system
is
we're
100%,
grass-fed,
which
means
that
we
are
based
on
mostly
perennial
grasses.
So
we
are
grazing
cropland
with
with
perennial
grasses
and
the
the
benefits
to
water.
Quality
are
huge.
A
We've
heard
all
sorts
of
things
tonight
about
how
important
roots
are
to
to
filtering
water,
to
letting
water
go
down
deeper
and
so
forth,
so
we're
letting
our
whole
farm
is
covered.
Year-Round
and
the
cows
are
grazing
it
and
we
manage
it
intensively.
They're
moved
twice
a
day
so
and
then
usually
it
gets
depending
on
the
time
of
year,
three
three
weeks
to
three
months
of
rest
between
grazing.
Sometimes
we
do
and
we
need
to
do
a
new
seating
will
till
it
up
and
we'll
put
in
some
annual
annual
crops.
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This
is
sorghum
Sudan
grass,
which
we
graze
or
hay,
and
that's
tikka.
The
cows
love
it.
It's
a
really
good
quality
forage.
It
grows.
It's
a
it's
a
warm
season
annual,
so
it
grows
really
well
in
the
summer
when
our
cool
season
pastures,
slow
down
and
the
other
thing
I
like
about
having
a
grass
farm
is
that
we
have
lots
of
grassland
birds,
lots
of
wildlife,
the
deer
love
to
come
and
graze
on
our
farm.
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A
Maybe
with
time
we'll
add
some
of
those
things
we're
very
limited
on
our
resources.
There's
my
wife,
that's
Renee,
she's
milking
cows
there.
So
we
milk
20
cows
and
all
the
milk
gets
processed
in
cheese
on
the
farm,
and
so
I
do
most
of
the
farming.
We
have
one
part-time
employee.
There
I
am
making
fresh
mozzarella.
That's
stripe.
It's
sped
up
a
little
bit
I'm,
not
that
and
I.
Don't
I
don't
take
drugs
before
I
do
do
cheese
making,
although
it
would
be
helpful
because
I,
usually
I
have
to
start
at
4:00
a.m.
A
and
I
can't
start
stretching
until
about
9:00
p.m.
so
for
all
the
people
who
like
to
complain
about
why
we
only
offer
fresh
mozzarella
in
the
summer.
That's
why
and
so
most
of
our
cheeses
are
aged,
so
we
do
like
an
Iowa
Alpine
or
that
we're
cooking
the
curd
and
then
and
then
pressing
it
into
a
harder
cheese.
We
brine
brine.
I
insult
it
and
then
age
it
for
four
months
before
it's
ready
to
eat,
and
that
makes
a
harder.
A
Sharper
cheese
there,
that's
that's
the
Iowa
Alpine,
those
what
the
curds
look
like
when
they
go
in,
so
that
that
cheese
curd
is
a
really
sweet,
cheese
curd.
It's
not
anything
like
cheddar
cheese
curds
if
you've
ever
had
that,
and
it's
not
salted
before
it
goes
into
the
molds.
But
the
thing
is
I
can't
sell
that,
because,
by
the
time,
I
would
get
that
bagged
up,
get
it
down
to
the
temperature.
I
need
to
have
it
at
by
the
regular
regulations.
Those
are
my
kids
packaging
cheese.
I
it
wouldn't
it
just.
A
A
This
is
another
cheese
that
that's
what
we
call
a
scheme,
so
I'm
kind
of
how
it
was
stretching
there
and
instead
of
doing
breaking
off
little
balls,
I'm
kind
of
rolling
it
all
up
into
one
big
ball,
and
then
that
one
also
will
age
and
that's
the
cheese
that
we
call.
Ingrid's
pride
looks
like
that
by
the
time
it's
aged.
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Yeah
so
I
know
this
is
not
all
directly
water
quality
related,
but
in
order
to
turn
to
use
perennials
on
the
landscape
in
a
water
quality
friendly
way,
because
we're
not
putting
fertilizers
on
our
fields,
we're
not
we're
not
we're.
Rarely
ever
tilling,
you
know
we're.
The
only
fertilizer
we
buy
is
hay,
so
we
buy
the
hay
feed
it
to
the
cows
and
they
spread
it
on
the
fields
or
it
gets
mixed
in
with
their
bedding
in
the
winter,
and
then
we
compost
it
and
spread
that
out.
A
So
that
would
be
the
only
way
that
we
would
bring
in
new
new
and
that's
a
much
more
stable,
so
we're
having
not
zero
but
a
lot.
Let
less
nutrient
runoff
into
both
the
groundwater
and
surface
waters,
and
the
other
thing
is
that
we
do
we
do
get,
because
our
farm
is
not
as
well
drained.
It
has
many
other
farms
because
we
haven't
invested
in
it.
We
get
when
there
are
flood
waters,
it
our
farm,
temporarily,
floods.
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A
The
cheese
chemistry
makes
it
a
more
complex
flavor.
So
it's
just
one
example
of
how
we
are
taking
local
stuff
and
and
making
a
an
artisan
product
that
we
can
sell.
You
know
so
we're
not
just
selling
commodities,
we're
selling
you
know
taking
grass
and
healthy
soil
and
turning
it
into
a
food
that
we
can
sell
directly
to
people
and
they
can
eat
right
away.
We
also
have
a
by-product
that
is
way
and
we
feed
the
way
to
pigs.
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A
You
can
see
why
these
pigs
took
very
little
grain
that
they,
so
you
could
see
by
the
beer
they
were.
They
did
get
a
little
bit
of
grain
soaked
in
that
way,
but
they're
mostly
getting
away
and
grass,
and
they
got
so
fat
on
that
and
it
was.
It
was
really
really
small
pork
chops,
but
the
most
delicious
pork
chops
I've
ever
had
and
we
still
have
lard
in
our
freezer.