Another Set of Eyes 
By Shirley Roenfeldt (Thursday, September 04, 2003)
Dairy Herd Management


For Ohio dairy producer Jim Comp, taking good care of the land has always been an important part of his business plan as he grew the dairy to 800 cows. After all, says Comp, “in order to make a living from the land you have to be a good steward of the land. It’s just not feasible to do it any other way.”

So, when the new Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) regulations came out and Comp had to get a permit, he wasn’t too worried. However, a courtesy inspection from the Ohio Department of Agriculture gave him quite a surprise. Inspectors said he had a lot of work to do before he could get his permit.

Frustrated, feeling like the inspectors had been overly harsh, Comp wanted a second opinion. He had heard about the On Farm Assessment and Environmental Review (OFAER) program at an Ohio Livestock Coalition meeting. The assessments were free, so he decided to give them a try.

“I wanted an unbiased source” to look over the operation and provide a second opinion, says Comp. Through the OFAER program, two assessors visited his dairy and gave it a thorough once-over. While they did find a few things that needed attention, they also offered suggestions for how to fix the problems, along with places he could get further help and perhaps qualify for cost-share dollars.

“If we did indeed have a problem,” says Comp, “I wanted to know about it and take care of it.” And that’s what the assessors from the OFAER program have helped him do. “It will be a challenge,” says Comp. “But I feel that if we can meet the expectations set by the OFAER inspectors, we should not have any problems getting our permit. They were very thorough, very knowledgeable about agriculture — and best of all, they were working for me, for my dairy.”

Here’s why you, too, should take advantage of the On Farm Assessment and Environmental Review program.

Who is OFAER?
The On Farm Assessment and Environmental Review program started in 1997 in the pork industry. It has since been expanded to the dairy, beef and poultry industries. The program offers a free, third-party evaluation of your operation by trained assessors. The program is funded by congressional appropriations through the non-profit America’s Clean Water Foundation.

Although Congress approves funding, the program does not have any ties to government regulatory bodies. So, if assessors do find something that needs to be corrected, the producer who they are working for at that moment is the only one who gets the information. (For more details on how an assessment works, please see “How it works”.)

The fact that the program is free-of-charge and confidential is a big plus for most producers. However, that’s not always enough to convince producers to sign up.

Professional Assessors at Your Service
Before an assessor ever sets foot on your farm, he/she has completed an extensive training program that includes classroom instruction, plus on-farm assessments for all of the species for which the assessor has been certified.

Since it is a nationwide program, the protocols involving what the assessors look for have been standardized, explains Ellen Hankes, marketing consultant for the OFAER program. The five primary areas included in the OFAER assessment are farmstead/community, buildings/lots, manure storage/handling, nutrient application and mortality management.

Assessors make farm visits in teams of two. That gives you two sets of eyes to scrutinize your operation.

In addition to being certified-OFAER assessors, each has a professional background. They range from engineers to extension agents and from nutrient management specialists to veterinarians and have backgrounds in pork, poultry, beef and dairy. The common thread that unites them is a commitment — and a desire — to help agricultural producers succeed.

“They are not out to pick your operation apart,” says Marty Gingerich, pork producer from Parnell, Iowa. “They are there to help and offer guidance.” Their goal is to help your operation meet — or exceed — environmental guidelines.

Working for You
“I was pretty impressed with the inspectors who completed the OFAER assessment of my pork operation,” says Mike Henke, pork producer in Princeton, Mo. They were very professional and very familiar with agriculture. But most importantly, they not only made suggestions about what you could improve, but they explained why it was important.

For example, says Henke, they pointed out that some of the fan blades and louvers on the exhaust fans in the finishing barn were pretty dirty and that the dust particles could carry odor particles to his neighbors. Henke knew keeping the equipment clean was important, but it just never made his priority list. However, the odor aspect “gave me the extra push I needed to get it done.”

Stephenville, Texas, dairy producer Steve Vanden Berge agrees. “A few of the things I didn’t think were a big deal, they pointed out and explained the potential problems.”

For example, a local rendering service picks up dead animals daily. So, Vanden Berge places any to be picked up at the edge of the dairy near the road. That eliminates the biosecurity concern of having a rendering truck come onto the dairy. However, what the assessors pointed out was that even though the animal may not be there very long, it is in direct view of a few neighbors and of anyone who drives by the dairy, thus presenting an image problem. The solution — which Vanden Berge completed shortly after the assessment — was to build a three-sided partition to obscure the view of any dead animals.

“No one likes more inspectors on their farm,” says Vanden Berge. “But these guys were here working for me.”

Get Proactive
When Iowa pork producer Marty Gingerich decided to have his first OFAER assessment four years ago, it wasn’t because he had received any complaints from neighbors. It was because he wanted to make sure that he never got any. It has helped him to be proactive in that regard.

Having another set of eyes — unbiased eyes — come out and really tell you if they see any areas you need to improve is invaluable, stresses Henke. And if anything ever does happen and someone files a complaint, “my participation in the OFAER program will help show that I have been proactive. And what steps I have taken to be a good steward and a good neighbor.”

Texas dairy producer Vanden Berge knows this all to well. Given the current situation in the North Bosque River Watershed in that state, dairy producers “need to go above and beyond to demonstrate to others outside of agriculture that we are good stewards of the land,” he says.

In fact, the Texas Association of Dairymen is encouraging all producers to get an OFAER assessment. It’s something members can do to show their neighbors that they are proactive and doing a good job.

Getting an OFAER assessment done on your dairy is about positioning your business for the future. Producers need to be aware of what is on the radar of consumers and others not involved in agriculture, says Joe Beiler, agriculture and community development extension agent in Celina, Ohio, and OFAER assessor. Today, producers need to be ready to respond to any consumer concerns that may arise. On the environmental front, getting an OFAER assessment is a great way to do that.

Simply put, an OFAER assessment is another tool for your toolbox. And now that it’s available in the dairy industry, it’s up to you to give it a try.


Where to get started

If you are interested in learning about the On Farm Assessment and Environmental Review program, contact Environmental Management Solutions, LLC in Des Moines, Iowa.

You can reach them by phone at: (515) 278-8002, or their Web site at: www.emsllc.com

And for those of you attending World Dairy Expo in October, you will find them at booth number MC 28.


The two biggest challenges

Of the 70 dairies that have already completed an OFAER assessment, the two most common challenges found are:

Dealing with dead animals.
Storm-water management.