Brown County Exec.: Brickstead Dairy earns major conservation award

Release Date:
December 8, 2017

Media Contact:
Deputy Executive Jeff Flynt
(920) 448-4083

PRESS RELEASE

Brickstead Dairy Earns Major Conservation Award
County Executive Lauds Conservation Efforts, Demo Farm Project

(Brown County, Wis.) – Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach is proud to recognize and honor Brickstead Dairy for winning the 2017 Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Award. The award honors Wisconsin landowner achievement in voluntary stewardship and management of natural resources.

“I’ve been steadfast that we need to become better stewards of our land through improving water quality and conservation efforts,” says Streckenbach. “This award exemplifies that commitment by minimizing the impact on the Bay of Green Bay positively impacting future generations of Brown County residents.”

Brickstead Dairy was established back in 1848, with five generations running this farm with the goal of production and conservation in mind. Since partnering with his father in the 1990s, Dan Brick has grown family business to include 900 cows.

“Farming practices that promote soil health and water quality are critical to the future of dairy farming not only in Brown County but throughout Wisconsin,” says Dan Brick, Owner of Brickstead Dairy.

Brickstead Dairy joined the Lower Fox Demonstration Farms Network in 2014 and since has helped other area farmers with lessons learned in transitioning to a more conservation-focused farm. In 2018, Brown County’s Land and Water Conservation Department will add two additional farms to the network which showcases innovative conservation practices that lead to reductions in sediment and phosphorous runoff while improving soil health.

ABOUT DEMONSTRATION FARM NETWORK
The Lower Fox Demonstration Farms Network (“Fox Demo Farms”) is a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative project designed to showcase and demonstrate leading edge conservation practices that improve Great Lakes water quality by reducing phosphorus from entering Green Bay and Lake Michigan. The partnership is the first of its kind in the Great Lakes region and it consists of six producers within the Fox River Basin, their crop consultants, Brown and Outagamie County Land and Water Conservation Departments, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and the University of Wisconsin-Extension. The Fox Demo Farms’ mission is to demonstrate the effectiveness and adaptability of conservation practices to reduce erosion and sedimentation, control phosphorus runoff, and address other non-point source pollution issues.