By Cindy Snyder
JEROME
Conservation practices (click here) help protect soil and water resources, but it takes people to implement those practices on the ground.
People
like David Mezes. For nearly 30 years, he has been in charge of
managing everything not related to cows at Si-Ellen Dairy near Jerome —
in other words, making sure the manure and effluent generated on the
farm are used in ways that benefit crops and help the environment.
“For
the long-term sustainability of the business, conservation makes
sense,” Mezes said. “If we over apply manure and ruin the ground, we
won’t have any feed for the cattle.
“And I don’t have to stay awake at night wondering where our ‘manure’ is,” he added.
Mezes
used a different word but the meaning is clear. Taking care of manure
and treating it as a valuable resource is a priority for the family-run
business.
That was a message that conservation leaders
and livestock industry representatives wanted to convey to officials
from the Environmental Protection Agency and Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality during a barnstorming tour of conservation
practices across southern Idaho. But they also pushed EPA to improve
relationships with farmers and ranchers....
