Environmental Progress - Autumn 1996

Carroll County Brothers Named First Illinois EPA Farm Stewardship Award Winners

Unique elements ranging from old newspapers to old-fashioned neighborliness combined to win recognition for outstanding farming operation

Using recycled newspapers, dry dams, fir trees, honeysuckle, and a long time concern with being good neighbors, brothers Tom and Doug Block have made environmental awareness part of the daily routine in operating their 900 acre Hunter-Haven Farm near Pearl City.

For their concern, they have been named the first winners of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Farm Stewardship Award. The brothers and their families were recognized on Agriculture Day during the 1996 Illinois State Fair, when they received a permanent sign that will identify Hunter-Haven Farm as the state's premier environmental farming operation.

Nominations for the 1997 judging will be accepted beginning Feb. 1, 1997. Winners are selected by a panel representing the Illinois EPA, the state Department of Agriculture, Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the Illinois Farm Bureau.

The Blocks were selected winners in the inaugural program for their demonstrated consistent use of sound conservation practices and environmental awareness in operating the farm, originally farmed by their father Robert. Now retired, he still lives in the area.

Hunter-Haven Farm includes a 90 cow dairy herd and a 90 sow farrow-to-finish swine herd. Offspring from their dairy herd have been sold throughout the United States and to Japan, Mexico, and South America. The farm produces corn, soybeans, alfalfa and wheat, has approximately 100 acres of contour strips, 12 acres of grassed waterways, seven grade stabilization structures, four waste handling systems and nine dry dams.

Scrap newspapers and magazines are recycled into bedding for the dairy herd

To cut down on fertilizer use, the Blocks buy and shred old newspapers and magazines to provide bedding in the dairy. Last year, they recycled nearly 50 tons of newspaper for this purpose. Purchasing the papers from a recycling operation run by the Carroll County Council on Aging lets them assist a local social agency as well.

Manure generated on the farm is land applied, and disked or chiseled into the fields to cut back on use of chemical fertilizers. Since the Block farm is located next to a 6,000 acre residential development located at Lake Carroll, they take the weather and prevailing wind conditions into account when applying manure to fields.

To reduce erosion, the Blocks practice contouring, contour strip cropping, reduced tillage and no-till farming. The dry dam structures reduce waterway erosion.

Fir trees and honeysuckle were first planted at Hunter-Haven Farm by Boy Scouts in the 1960s, part of a project that earned Robert Block the Conservation Farmer of the Year Award. The trees provide windbreaks and add visual appeal, while the honeysuckle attracts birds as it scents the breeze. Additional evergreen and honeysuckle plantings have been added in the 30 years since the initial project.

Regular crop rotation lessens the need for insecticides. Fuels and pesticides have specific storage areas, with all fuel tanks located above ground and fitted with automatic shut-offs. Herbicides are mixed at least 100 feet away from the wellhead, which is up-slope from the feedlots and cattle yards.

Announcing selection of the Block families as the 1996 winners of the Farm Stewardship Award, Illinois EPA Director Mary A. Gade said: "Illinois farmers traditionally have been a key factor in the state’s economic health as well as a force for responsible resource use. They have a deep personal interest in seeing that their children and grandchildren can farm acres that will keep Illinois among the leaders in American agriculture. The Block brothers are proof that successful farming and sound environmental practices can go hand in hand."

Doug and Edie Block have two sons, Dan and Nick. Tom and Mary Block have two daughters, Stephanie and Jaime. Both families have been active in breeders' and producers' associations, herd improvement organizations, the Farm Bureau, and state and county soil and water conservation programs. They have demonstrated environmentally responsible farming to groups ranging from foreign visitors to Girl Scout troops, 4-H groups, and elementary school students. Both families have been involved with local school boards, 4-H programs and church activities.

[Photo caption: Members of the Block Brothers families display the sign that will identify their Hunter-Haven Farm as the first winner of the Illinois EPA's Farm Stewardship Award. From the left are Tom Block, his wife Mary, Edie Block and husband Doug, and Jim Park, chief of Illinois EPA's Burea of Water.]