Raw Milk Used As Fertilizer

Raw Milk Used As Fertilizer DAIRY EQUIPMENT & IDEAS When Bob Bernt couldn’t sell his milk he put it to work fertilizing fields and gardens After 15 years it’s his only fertilizer even though he has since built other markets for the milk from his 40-head Jersey herd “I had switched from one buyer for my organic milk to another ” says Bernt “The new one had some issues but the previous buyer wanted to make an example of me so he refused to take us back We had milk and nowhere for it to go ” A University of Nebraska Extension agent told Bernt about some research done with milk as fertilizer He suggested putting the milk on Bernt’s organic crops Until that point Bernt had relied on fish emulsion as his organic fertilizer “I put a lot of milk on because I had a lot and I saw a substantial increase in yield ” says Bernt “I started running test plot strips using milk and fish emulsions by themselves and mixed Every time I used milk it equaled or surpassed other organic fertilizers in yield ” The milk mixed with sodium bicarbonate at the rate of 1 lb per 100 gal is applied in-furrow at planting at a 3-gal per acre rate The sodium bicarbonate enhances fertility and keeps the milk from spoiling He uses a squeeze pump on his planter noting that a vertical pump will cause milk foaming and plugging He then makes 2 more applications at the same rate in-season using a highboy sprayer or through center pivots on fields that have them He not only uses raw milk on row crops but also on his grain crops on his 15-acre garden and on his 6 000 sq ft of greenhouse crops He even uses it on the pastures where he grazes his beef dairy hogs and chickens “I put it on native grasses at the same rate as on field crops and I saw a 30 percent increase in forage yield in 20 days ” says Bernt He admits that conventional growers around him may out yield him but he doubts they make more money “They may average 200 bushels versus my 150 but their inputs will be $300 to $400 per acre and mine is $40 to $50 ” he says Bernt points out that his crops are getting the perfect plant food His Jersey herd produces 5 1/2 to 6 percent protein milk which is converted to plant soluble nitrogen Plants also get calcium and sugars all of which also feed soil microbes for healthier soils “We had a dry spell this summer and while other fields were curling and dying we didn’t even have to turn on our pivots ” says Bernt Bernt has used pasteurized milk as well as raw but estimates its value to plants at only 30 percent that of raw milk “You get the immediate nitrogen effect and the calcium but I don’t think you get the microbial impact ” he says In addition to the milk he uses on his fields Bernt also sells 5 000 to 10 000 gal of raw milk to other farmers for fertilizer The rest of the year he markets his raw milk to consumers through direct sales off the farm as well as through cheese butter and ice cream made in the on-farm processing plant Byproducts from the processing plant also find a home on the farm Bernt gives them to grazing pigs eventually adding more dairy-based fertility to the fields Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Clear Creek Organic Farms 82228 499th Ave Spalding Neb 68665 ph 308 750-1086; clearcreekorganicfarm@hotmail com; www clearcreekorganicfarm com

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