File:Landowner Says Planning and Care Essential for Hardy Shelterbelt (8621828547).jpg

ADVANCE PLANNING AND EXTRAORDINARY CARE ALLOW KEN MOUW TO KEEP UP A HARDY SHELTERBELT

by Laurie Fritsch, Field Editor USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, Elk Point, SD, Dec. 19, 2012 - Ken Mouw spent his career crunching numbers as a certified public accountant. But the best place to find him these days is far from the corporate office out sprucing up the 3-acre shelterbelt on his farm two miles north of Elk Point, SD.

Mouw retired as president and CEO of Sioux-Preme Packing Company; a small pork processer with locations in Sioux Center and Sioux City, Iowa, in 2002. And then as he’d planned, he sold his share of the company and has never looked back. Mouw said, “I was looking for a farm to get back to my roots.” He grew up on a livestock and grain farm near Sioux Center, Iowa. “As a kid we had a little of everything. We raised pigs, cattle, sheep, horses and chickens.” Just as he had desired to do, he purchased a farm from the Gordon Beermann Trust, a 160-acre grain operation located 2.5 miles north of Elk Point.

When Mouw purchased his farm, he met Kevin Beermann, executor of his father, Gordon’s will. Beermann, was farming the land and working fulltime as a Soil Conservation Technician for both Clay- and Union County USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) field offices in Vermillion and Elk Point, SD. As the two became acquainted, Mouw asked Beermann to keep working for him as a tenant. Beermann agreed and still oversees the planting and harvest of corn and soybeans.

Mouw was interested in implementing conservation practices to effectively manage his farm, but wasn’t sure where to start. Due to Beermann’s expertise in this area, Mouw decided to visit Beermann at the NRCS office in Elk Point to draw up a conservation plan for his farm. He wanted to protect the acreage from soil erosion resulting from high winds, yet do something to attract birds and other wildlife. After discussing several options with Beermann, Mouw decided to put in an L-shaped shelterbelt. Mouw said, “It gives us some privacy, and in the fall the colors of the leaves are just amazing.” The north edge of the windbreak was planted 370-ft. north of the existing driveway to the property. The trees and shrubs have become well established and protect his property from the harsh winter winds coming from the north and west, keeping snow from collecting in his driveway during a snow storm.

In working with Beermann to complete his conservation plan, Mouw designated 10 acres near the barn to pasture his draft horses. He’s been involved in the horse business for years, and sold his only two draft horses this past fall. He plans to buy two young ones to break next spring. He said, “I consider this 10-acre spot my play area.”

When it came to experience in putting in a shelterbelt, Mouw said, “I didn’t know much at all.” He had hand-planted trees on his acreage in South Carolina years ago, but knew this experience didn’t cut it when it came to planting in a shelterbelt. As a result, Mouw called on the expertise of Beermann, and Linda Rosenbaum, Union County Conservation Manager, who all worked together to design the 3-acre shelterbelt. They also offered Mouw advice about which tree and shrub species to plant. In 2002, with the design for the windbreak in hand, he hired Rosenbaum and Glenn Bosse, the District’s tractor operator, to machine plant his 7-row shetlerbelt. The west edge of the L-shaped windbreak measures 660-ft. long, and the north side is 550-ft. in length.

Beermann continued, “Plan at least a year ahead of when you want to plant a shelterbelt. As you design a shelterbelt make sure that the trees and shrubs you pick are arranged to dump the snow away from your driveway or buildings. Design the shelterbelt so that it won’t dump snow on fences or buildings, and that water drains off in the correct direction when the snow melts. ”

When you’re deciding what kinds of trees to plant in a shelterbelt, Beermann said, “You’ve got to be choosy. Don’t load up on one species or exotic trees or you’ll lose them all. Look at what you’re trying to protect and design your shelterbelt for that. For example, if the shelterbelt is going to protect buildings, livestock or work as a field windbreak, select your trees for that purpose. Linda and I recommended that Mouw plant trees suited to Union County’s weather zone; trees that would survive and do a good job in a tough soil like lamo silty clay. You also need to have the necessary equipment available to keep a weed free environment and take care of it once it’s planted.”

Redosier Dogwood were strategically placed in the first row to the north and west of the white fence which runs along the perimeter of the pasture, followed by Amur Maple, Manchurian Crab Apple, Hackberry and Green Ash, with the last two rows planted to Eastern Red Cedars.

Proper site preparation is highly critical in order to get a hardy tree stand, according to Rosenbaum. She advised Mouw to deep till the cornstalks and pasture in the fall to make it easier to plant his trees the following spring. In the spring, she encouraged Mouw to lightly disc the ground and apply a chemical application to kill weeds before she and Bosse arrived to plant the shelterbelt so it was free of competitive vegetation. Rosenbaum said, “Mouw had the site prepped well and that’s the most important thing he did to get at a 90% survival rate or better the first growing season.”

“Trees are a lifetime investment. Once we plant a landowner’s trees, they need to take good care of their trees. You can’t just leave the trees alone,” she said. She gives Mouw high marks for the excellence in maintaining his shelterbelt including pruning trees and shrubs when needed, mowing grass and spot spraying the area to keep weeds at bay. To prevent the trees and shrubs from spreading, Mouw mows and tills the ground for row crops planted outside the perimeter of the windbreak.

She also praised Mouw for his discipline to adequately water and replace dead trees and shrubs each year. Attention to even the smallest detail has been key to why Mouw’s shelterbelt has been so effective stopping soil erosion, working as a natural snow fence and providing clean air.

She and Bosse planted Mouw’s shelterbelt on April 28, 2003. As Rosenbaum plants the trees, she steps them in or hand pats soil up and around the root base. She explained, “The trees can’t have air in and around the root structure or they’ll die.” The day they finished planting Mouw’s shelterbelt, it rained an inch over night, giving the trees and shrubs a perfectly-timed drink to get them off to an excellent start. To keep ahead of the weeds once the shelterbelt was in, Mouw hired Rosenbaum and Bosse to lay fabric weed barrier down each row of trees and shrubs the first week of June. Rosembaum added, “I shoveled soil on the edge of the fabric as it was laid. After this Mouw made one pass with a disc as an added precaution to keep the fabric in place.

As the trees grow, the customer needs to cut a bigger hole in the fabric around the tree base so the fabric doesn’t grow into the tree. She said, “You’ve got to keep your eye on the edge of the fabric on a regular basis to make sure the fabric stays down. If you plant trees in the hills and neglect this you’re asking for a disaster. If the soil washes off the fabric weed barrier during a rain, I suggest you put it back on.”

Rosenbaum is quick to mention that the way she completes a tree planting is different from other Districts. “No one touches my trees from the time they arrive from the nursery to the time I plant them in the ground. That way I don’t have to rely on anybody else to plant each tree to meet federal standards, which saves the District money, too,” she quipped.

The first couple years Mouw said his shelterbelt didn’t look like much.. But he was pleased that he had to replant only a few dead trees after the first growing season; mostly Hackberry, Green Ash and Eastern Red Cedars due to over wet conditions in some spots. All things considered Mouw is extremely satisfied with how his shelterbelt has matured. Rosenbaum said, “Ken takes good care of his trees every year and replaces the dead ones as needed.

When asked what she remembers most from her experience putting in Mouw’s shelterbelt, she recalls, “It was horrible! It’s heavy ground. It was a hard planting because cornstalks and lamo silty clay loam soil kept clogging the wheels of the tree planter. And in June when we put down the black paper it was even worse. We had to get down on our hands and knees to apply the paper because the soil kept sticking to the paper.”

If you’re interested to put in a shelterbelt, like Mouw, find professionals like Beermann and Rosenbaum to walk you through the process from start to finish. Start the planning process now. Depending on availability at the nursery, hand plants can be ordered until early spring by calling the Union County Conservation District at (605) 356-3308, Ext. 3.