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Forage fix
Roundup Ready alfalfa helps Kevin Griffith solve erosion problems, generate income on his Fyrne Lake Farm in Dyersburg
| By Allison Morgan |
7/2/2012 |
When Kevin Griffith began looking for vacation property in 2002, he had two rather restrictive requirements: “enough water so I wouldn’t get bored and enough woods to get lost in.”
He found both perched on the Chickasaw Bluffs near Dyersburg with a secluded 110-acre lake surrounded by 2,500 acres of woods and farmland. He and wife Diana bought the property in 2004, built a house in 2006, and began splitting their time between Tennessee and their home in Clearwater, Fla., where Kevin owns and operates Depco Pump Company, a distributor of marine and industrial pumps.
“We wanted a peaceful place where there was a change of season and was within a day’s drive of our home in Florida,” says Kevin. “I wanted water, and Diana wanted a cabin in the woods. As we looked, my vision just kept expanding, and when I saw this place, I knew it was what I’d been looking for and a whole lot more.”
After seeing an aerial view of the lake, Kevin noticed that its shape resembled a fern leaf and named the property Fyrne Lake Farm in honor of his late grandmother, Fyrne Taylor, who was instrumental in developing his love of fishing and the outdoors. Continuing a tradition started by the previous landowner, a large portion of the farm’s income comes from selling annual memberships to people who want to fish on the lake, which was built in 1978 by the West Tennessee River Basin Authority for erosion and flood control. Year-round, from dawn to dusk, members and their guests are allowed to fish for the lake’s stock of bass, crappie, bream, and catfish.
With enterprises like the fishing club, Kevin says his goal is to make the farm sustainable while protecting its natural beauty. In doing so, he’s balancing the need for profitable agricultural pursuits with his desire to conserve the farm’s fragile, easily erodible land. Rising some 250 feet above the Mississippi River floodplain, Fyrne Lake Farm’s bluffs and ridges are made of a very fine soil called loess, created from deposits of wind-blown dust and silt over many centuries.
Because years of traditional farming methods by prior landowners had worsened the erosion, Kevin has been sowing cover crops, perennial grasses, and forages that can be harvested for hay to help keep the land intact. While researching the options, he sought the advice of Spence Lowry, outside salesman for Gibson Farmers Cooperative, where Kevin purchases most of his farm inputs.
Spence recommended Roundup Ready® alfalfa — which received clearance to be re-released to the market in January 2011 — as a forage that would be productive and easy to establish and maintain. Roundup Ready alfalfa is the first perennial crop to offer glyphosate-resistant technology, which simplifies stand establishment, makes weed control more flexible, improves forage quality by reducing weed content, and increases yield and hay quality. In Tennessee, it can be planted in the fall or spring, with recommended dates of Aug. 15 to Sept. 15 and March 1 to May 1.
“We wanted income sources for the farm that are kind to the land,” says Kevin. “This is a product that will achieve that goal. Alfalfa offers more value per manhour than other types of hay, and Roundup Ready has great yield potential and is easy to take care of. We’ve got a lot of projects on this farm, and anything I can do to make production easier gives us more time to do other things.”
Roundup Ready alfalfa was introduced in 2005, but sales were halted in 2007 after a federal lawsuit was filed by the Center for Food Safety, citing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s failure to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. That study was completed in December 2010, with USDA determining that Roundup Ready alfalfa is as safe as conventional alfalfa. The product was allowed back on the market in January 2011.
In March 2011, Kevin was one of the first growers in Tennessee to plant Roundup Ready alfalfa after its reauthorization. At Spence’s suggestion, he sowed 12 acres of Farm Science Genetics 425RR Alfalfa from Allied Seed, a forage seed company owned in part by Tennessee Farmers Cooperative. Developed with the Genuity Roundup Ready technology, 425RR Alfalfa produces top yields, recovers quickly after cutting, and performs well over a wide range of environmental conditions. It is also highly resistant to the common diseases and insects that affect alfalfa.
“Weed management in conventional alfalfa can be complicated, requiring different products and strategies depending on the season and stage of production,” says Roger West, TFC Farm Seed Department manager. “Roundup Ready alfalfa lets you produce cleaner, higher-quality alfalfa with the convenience of using one herbicide. Fewer weeds in every bale results in better feed.”
As it was getting established last year, Kevin was only able to harvest the alfalfa once, but starting in late April of this year, he’s been harvesting every 28 to 30 days and says he’s pleased with the yields so far.
“We only got six round bales off the fields last year, but it came in strong this spring,” says Kevin, whose main customer for the hay is currently the Tennessee Safari Park in Alamo, home to some 400 exotic and domestic animals. “We put up 16 five-foot round bales on our first cutting this year, and the second cutting made 18 round bales. We cut for the third time June 15 and made 338 square bales.”
The alfalfa production is an important step toward making Fyrne Lake Farm both self-sustaining and environmentally sound, says Kevin. For additional income, he’s growing 40 acres of soybeans in the bottomland and producing honey from some 25 beehives that are managed by his brother, Kris Griffith, who moved to the farm in 2008. With help from other farm employees Tommy Criswell and Richard Cathey, he’s also meticulously implementing conservation measures to stop or slow erosion and fighting a fierce battle against the highly invasive kudzu vine that has claimed many of the hillsides.
It’s a lot of work and quite a change from his office job in Florida, Kevin admits, but he and Diana are enjoying their dream-come-true property so much that they are spending the majority of their time there. When he’s not working on the farm, Kevin can be found fishing with their 7-year-old son, Andrew; visiting the family’s newly built cabin in the woods; planting orchards of apples, persimmons, peaches, plums, and pears; or just experiencing the solitude of the surroundings.
“I love it, absolutely love it,”
he says. “My vision for the farm is to develop it to the point where it pays its own way, improve the property to the standards of a public park, and maintain it as a pristine, private farm that we share with family and friends. Our dream is to keep this in the family forever.”
For more information on Fyrne Lake Farm, visit its Facebook page or website at www.fyrnelake.com. To learn more about Roundup Ready alfalfa’s benefits and planting recommendations, talk with the crop experts at your local Co-op.
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