August 2021 - 13

He has found that he can do more
with less, especially when it comes to the
few sprays he still uses.
" This year's onion crop and potato
crop is actually on last year's popcorn
(field), " Wagner said. " Last year's
popcorn crop was treated with Lumax.
This year our potato field has had
absolutely zero sprays used on it in terms
of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides
at this point. Our onion crop has only
had one application of herbicide, just as
a preventative, and frankly, I probably
could have gotten away without it
because we found that using our corn
crop as a weed eliminator crop the year
before, the following crop is actually
really good without the use of pesticides.
... You have to approach it on a multiyear
basis in your head. "
Taken as a whole, such decisions
confirm the art and science of farming
sustainably - and Wagner said they've
been the hardest part of changes in
his operation. He has decided organic
certification isn't in the farm's future.
" It all comes down to the market
in the end, " he said. " We don't have a
market for organic returns financially or
profitability in our area. If you look at it
demographic-wise, there's such a small
organic demand ... it's a niche item. "
added retail item. And we got out of
doing sunflowers for a while because I
felt I was relying on the crop insurance
payment rather than on the crop, and
didn't like that myself, so I broke that
habit before it became a bad habit.
" Then three, four years ago, we tried
sunflowers again, and we asked the public
to come out and enjoy them. While doing
so, we found they really do a great job of
breaking up the soil. Their root systems
are massive ... their root balls are over a
foot in diameter, very fibrous, very hairy
roots that will break up the top five to
six inches of soil. It's almost like growing
soybeans on the ground. "
Tools of the trade
A few key tools have helped Wagner
make his farm more sustainable.
A tine weeder for mechanical
cultivation reduces the need for
herbicides.
" We are eliminating so much herbicide
use in specialty crops - little crops that
have little to no profit margin to begin
with, " he said. " It allows us to weed them
and get them out of the ground fast. "
Wagner uses a Zone Builder tool to
open up the soil in fields where hard
crusts have formed.
" The zone till does two things: It
flood-proofs the crop and it droughtproofs
the crop, " he said. " The plant roots
go deep and find the water in a drought.
You get one of those fluke thunderstorms
that drop three inches in five minutes on
you, the water sinks into the ground. "
A biofuel pellet burner has replaced
fossil fuels.
" We came to a point last year where
our oil burners under our greenhouse
are 20-plus years old, and they're in
need of being replaced, " Wagner said.
" Cost versus returns, we had to look at it
carefully. "
A Central Boiler Maxim system heats
the greenhouse as well as being the
source for a corn dryer that prepares raw
popcorn and grain corn. He said they
burn 2 bushels to dry 25-30 bushels at a
time. Last year, burning corn saved them
from burning 2,500 gallons of oil - a
return on a crop grown as a part of the
agritourism operation.
" It's double-dipping on the
profitability there, " Wagner said. FGN
A Basswood tree forms seed pods and
blossoms that will eventually produce
basswood honey, unique minty-flavored
honey, one of many the farm offers.
Attempts to grow organically have
been unsuccessful.
" We tried an organic field last year and
we failed miserably, " he said. " We had
four acres of organic produce; the deer
enjoyed every bit of it. And what they
didn't get the weeds (got). It was such a
dry season we couldn't get a cultivator in
the ground. There was really no way to
salvage it, and you know what? It was a
life lesson. "
However, some organic-style farming
techniques have turned out remarkably
well. Wagner plans around a 5-year crop
rotation and has found that sunflowers
make a good cover crop.
" I hate sunflowers, I've got to be
honest, " he said. " I look at it as nothing
more than a commodity crop that you
lose the seeds - before you ever harvest
it - to the birds. And I understand that.
However, customers will pay to watch
them, look at them, take photos of
them. And our sunflowers have actually
become a major part of our crop rotation
on our farm. It saves us major fertilizer,
major chemical use that comes in
following years for crops that follow on
that sunflower ground.
" We've grown sunflowers since 2012,
when we bought our combine and we
got into the grain business. We messed
around with sunflowers a little bit, just
strictly as a birdseed item - a valueAlways
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FGN | AUGUST 2021 | 13

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August 2021

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