Fox Demo Farms

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Fox Demo Farms

The Fox Demo Farms is a GLRI project designed to help farmers implement conservation practices.

This project is a collaborative effort between local farmers, Brown & Outagamie Counties, the USDA-NRCS, & UW-Madison Division of Extension. The Lower Fox Demonstration Farms Network (Fox Demo Farms), established in 2014, is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) funded project utilizing Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funds. The pr

oject is designed to showcase and demonstrate the effectiveness of conservation practices on participating farms located in the Lower Fox River basin. The project aims to reduce erosion and sedimentation, restore soil health, and improve water quality by reducing phosphorus entering the Great Lakes basin. Participating farms:
- Brickstead Dairy
- Kane Farms
- Wayside Dairy
- Neighborhood Dairy
- Dairyland Farms
- Ambrosius Dairy
- Mleziva Farms
- New Horizons Dairy
- Gilson Farm
- Wavurnek Family Farm
- Vande Wettering Farm
- Van Wychen Farms

Project partners include producers, crop consultants, Brown and Outagamie County Land and Water Conservation Departments (LWCD), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension (Extension), Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District (NEW Water), United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the Great Lakes Commission. Additional funding support comes from Brown County and NEW Water. Note:
While the University of Wisconsin Colleges and University of Wisconsin – Extension does not regularly review content posted to social media sites, the administration shall have the right to remove any content from any official site for any reason, including but not limited to content deemed threatening, obscene, a violation of intellectual property rights or privacy laws, or otherwise injurious or illegal. Public opinions/comments posted on this site do not necessarily reflect those of UW-Extension/UW Colleges.

06/04/2026

Next week! Join us at Ambrosius Dairy Farms LLC, to learn how Kurtis is planting green on his farm. We'll look at two fields that were planted in rye last fall. This spring he no-tilled his corn and soybeans into the living rye. We'll talk planting dates/rates for the cover crop, how to know when a field is ready for planting, and cover crop termination techniques. Come out for cookies and conversations.

📅 Tuesday, June 9
⏰ 5:00 PM
📌 https://go.wisc.edu/g22p3r

06/01/2026

Happy June Dairy Month! June is a great time to thank your local farmers for working around the clock to take care of their animals, protect their soil and our shared waterways, and of course, providing all the delicious dairy products that Wisconsin is known for! Cheers to America's Dairyland! Grab yourself an ice cream cone, a basket of cheese curds, and big glass of milk! 🐄🥛🍦🧀

Photo taken at Olson Family Farm during the 2026 Festival of Nature.

05/29/2026

Did you know that Outagamie County has conservation equipment available to rent in northeastern Wisconsin?! This is a great resource for farmers interested in conservation, but who don’t have the equipment to get started. This program has led to more equipment across the region and more acres managed with conservation practices. Farmers have invested in their own equipment, partnered with neighbors to purchase equipment together, and modified existing equipment so it performs similarly.

To learn more about available equipment, check out Outagamie County Land Conservation Department website: https://www.outagamie.gov/County-Services/Land-Conservation/Soil-Health-Education-Demo-SHED-Facility

05/28/2026

Last week, we hosted a field day at Jeff Mleziva's farm. We highlighted his new seeding of alfalfa that he no-till planted into a living cover crop. His main priority…getting the alfalfa established the first time.

Improved germination rates is one of the biggest benefits to this practice. Living cover crops provide alfalfa seeds protection from heavy spring rains, which reduces seed loss and leads to a healthier stand. When we checked in last week, the field looked like it was off to a great start.

Here’s the breakdown of how Jeff managed this field…

2025:
• Winter wheat → sprayed off → vertical tilled
• Drilled 35 lbs of triticale & winter rye mix (50/50) in mid-September. Triticale is less aggressive than rye, so the combination is more manageable in spring.

2026:
• Early May: No-till planted 24 lbs of alfalfa directly into cover crop
• Sprayed off 7-10 days later to manage competition (takes about a week for cover to die off)

This practices offers many benefits to the farm, while building soil health and protecting water quality. Thank you Jeff for sharing your experience and allowing us to showcase your work!

05/14/2026

Next week we’ll be talking to Jeff Mleziva who planted his new seeding of alfalfa into winter wheat. This practice has multiple benefits and we’re excited to see more of it on the landscape.

Practice benefits:
🌱Improved germination: Planting new seeding of alfalfa into a cover crop reduces the risk of seed loss during heavy spring rains. This leads to better germination and a healthier stand.

🌱Weed suppression: Cover crops can suppress w**ds like water h**p.

🌱Time management: This approach offers farms flexibility. Depending on the weather, alfalfa can be planted in late March or early April.

We’ll also discuss termination strategies for cover crop fields before and after planting corn or soybeans.

Come out for cookies and conversation!

📅 Wednesday, May 20th
⏰ 5:00 PM
📌 Jeff Mleziva's field: https://go.wisc.edu/ie92nq

05/13/2026

RESCHEDULED! Join us next Wednesday (5/20) @ 5 PM. We'll be talking new seeding into covers & terminating cover crops before or after planting corn or beans.

📅 Wednesday, May 20th
⏰ 5:00 PM
📌 Jeff Mleziva's field: https://go.wisc.edu/ie92nq

Demo Farms at Dusk are a Fox Demo Farms event held on the second Tuesday of the month. They are an opportunity to see a practice in person, learn from the farmers that are making it work, and talk to conservation staff about ways to adopt the practice on your farm. Host and conservation topics will rotate each month. All are welcome.

05/12/2026

Tonight's field event has been postponed due to weather. We will be following up with details for the new date later this week.

05/07/2026

This week we checked in with Kurtis Ambrosius who was planting corn into standing cereal rye (aka “planting green”). Last fall, Kurtis planted his rye at about 60 lbs./acre. When farms plant for soil health, and not for forage, we usually recommend lower rates of rye (20-30 lbs./acre), especially if planting earlier in the fall. However, Kurtis is looking to build biomass on this field and therefore, he planted at a higher rate and is letting the cover grow beyond 16-18 inches.

At planting, the rye was 20-24 inches tall. Thicker, taller rye means more food for the soil biology (earthworms, beneficial insects, and predatory spiders), as well as w**d suppression. However, when rye grows taller than 16-18 inches, the system begins to build carbon faster than nitrogen and therefore, a nitrogen application is often needed early in the season.

Keep up the awesome work, Kurtis!

05/05/2026

📢Curious about new seeding into covers? Have questions about terminating covers before or after planting corn or beans? Join us on Tuesday (5/12) at Jeff Mleziva's field for cookies & conversation.

📅 Tuesday, May 12th
⏰ 5:00 PM
📌 Jeff Mleziva's field: https://go.wisc.edu/ie92nq

Demo Farms at Dusk are a Fox Demo Farms event held on the second Tuesday of the month. They are an opportunity to see a practice in person, learn from the farmers that are making it work, and talk to conservation staff about ways to adopt the practice on your farm. Host and conservation topics will rotate each month. All are welcome.

05/01/2026

Thank you to those who attended last week’s Demo Farms at Dusk where we featured the Mike Pribyl and his work using strip-till. Strip-till is a great tool for those working tough ground and are looking for ways to loosen up the planting zone without sacrificing all the benefits of their cover crops. A few key takeaways from last week’s conversation…

• The field we toured is owned by Brown County and managed by Mike Pribyl. Last fall, Mike used his strip-till system to manage residue in a multi-species cover crop field. The loosened strips could even allow planting with a conventional planter.

• His unit is a coulter-style strip till, which he prefers because it performs better in fields with stones. He likes how the system loosens the ground without creating a trench in the strip.

• Mike is working towards variable rate fertilizer applications across all his ground. With dedicated soil testing and the right equipment (like the strip till unit), variable rate applications will allow for more efficient applications and ultimately allow Mike to reduce his input costs. Fertilizer placed directly in the root zone by the strip-till is much more efficient than broadcast applications where the fertilizer is on the surface. Fertilizer incorporated into strips is much less susceptible to losses through runoff or volatilization.

• Strip-till is a great compromise for fields plagued by low fertility, hard soils, or soils that are slow to warm and dry that make no-till especially challenging.

• Outagamie County has a strip-till unit available for rent. Their unit is set up with a shank system. The goal of the shank is to get depth into the strip, which can be beneficial for ground with significant compaction. **Contact Andy or Alex in the Outagamie County Land Conservation office to learn more.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experience! We will be announcing next week our topic for our next Demo Farms at Dusk, which is planned for May 12th.

Address

2019 Technology Way
Green Bay, WI
54311

Website

http://www.foxdemofarms.org/

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