Mike Ulen is like a lot of farmers. He just wants to raise a crop and leave the land better than he found it. And so he has, for 50-plus years. This year, he was recognized for it, along with his brother and nephew.
The Ulens received the 2022 Conservation Farm Family Award, sponsored by the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Prairie Farmer. Mike farms with his brother Sammy and Sammy’s son Brian. The three make up Ulen Farms, which operates in Pulaski County near Ullin, Ill.
“It’s an honor to be recognized as someone that’s trying to do a good job on the farm,” Mike says. “One of the things that I’ve talked about all along is that our goal is to leave the land better than when we got it.”
The Ulens raise corn, soybeans and wheat on 2,300 acres and began no-tilling about 20 years ago. About 80% of their acreage is in no-till. About 360 acres are classified as highly erodible land, and they no-till 100% of those acres. They started experimenting with cover crops seven years ago, and today, they plant around 700 acres of cover crops, depending on rotations.
Mike says they farm in creek bottoms and are trying to control erosion into the wetlands. They’ve installed water control structures to limit the places water can leave the field. They’ve also added rock chutes and filter strips to slow the water down.
“We’ve tried to stop erosion and make the water work for us instead of against us,” he says.
Mike Ulen waves to the crowd at the annual Illinois State Fair Ag Day breakfast
RECOGNITION: Mike Ulen waves to the crowd at the annual Illinois State Fair Ag Day breakfast, where he and his family were recognized for their conservation efforts. “We feel like we’ve reduced erosion, but we’re still working on it. Our goal is to get it right,” he says.
Dale Shumaker, chairman of the Pulaski-Alexander Soil and Water Conservation District and vice president of the AISWCD, says the Ulens were one of the first landowners to install filter strips on land near Mill Creek and have helped other landowners do the same. They were also one of the first farms to enroll in the Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Stewardship Program and have had an NRCS-approved Nutrient Management Plan since 2016.
“The Ulen family’s passion and longtime commitment to incorporating conservation practices and principles into their operation is very remarkable to me — their passion is infectious,” says Grant Hammer, executive director of the AISWCD. “I review the nominations for this long-standing award each year, and there are always so many deserving nominations, but I am truly moved once I have an opportunity to speak with the award-winning Conservation Farm Family and hear directly about what inspires their conservation efforts, their successes and failures, and the relationships they have developed with others on their stewardship journey.”
by Holly Spangler PrairieFarmer
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