The Cattaraugus County Soil & Water Conservation District has selected Woloszyn Farms, LLC for the 2019 Conservation Farm of the Year Award. Stephen & Diane Woloszyn and their family operate a dairy farm in the Town of Yorkshire. The Woloszyn family has been actively participating in NY State’s Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) program, and has worked in close cooperation with various partner agencies and organizations, including the Conservation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service & Farm Service Agency, and Western NY Crop Management Association to implement many conservation practices to address agricultural runoff, agricultural nutrient management, and erosion & sediment control. In addition to conservation practices, the farm also implemented a number of additional projects to improve operational efficiency of the farm. Practices and projects implemented through cooperation with the District and partnering agencies include:
- Construction of a concrete manure storage structure, which allows for application of nutrients at optimum times of the year for improved crop production and reduced runoff potential.
- Construction of a bunk silo leachate collection & treatment system to control concentrated runoff from their feed storage area.
- Construction & restoration of several diversion ditches and associated runoff control structures to reduce erosion and divert stormwater runoff away from farmstead.
- Installation of several thousand feet of drainage tile to improve crop yields and manage surface runoff from cropland.
- Installation of over 2000 feet of fencing to better utilize grazing lands.
- Installation of automated alley scrapers to keep the barn floor clean and move manure toward collection system and ultimately to the manure storage structure.
- Installation of several cooling fans in the freestall barn to improve air flow and maintain optimum cattle health & comfort.
- Installation of computerized bulk tank temperature recorder to maintain optimum milk temperatures.
In addition to the projects above, a major improvement that was undertaken by the farm on its own was to install robotic milking units to reduce labor requirements, improve production efficiency, and to better monitor and maintain herd health. Additional projects are planned on the farm to continue to build upon these accomplishments.
