As Greg Hartzler and John Hartzler tell it, the meeting at the Harold Hartzler family farm near Marshallville, Ohio in 1990 was a pivotal moment in their families’ farming history. The government had just approved a hormone for dairy herds that promised to substantially increase milk production in the industry; they knew low prices would follow. They also knew it’d be followed by hard times on the farm and the families that relied on raw milk for income. That’s when they decided to vertically integrate, that is, expand their farming operation into the retail market. What follows is family history centered around the Hartzler Family Dairy in Wooster, OH.

By starting the new dairy processing facility in 1995, they became the first new dairy in Ohio in 35 years. They did their homework by talking with other raw, organic milk bottlers, or ”juggers.” They decided producing the highest quality milk required the highest quality feeds, which means purchasing the highest quality inputs to raise the premium corn and alfalfa feed for the herds. The ultimate mission for these families isn’t just milk; it’s better nutrition for better health. From personal stories of renewed health to testimonials from area experts, Hartzler milk started growing once the processing and retail store opened.

SuperCal 98G and SuperCal SO4 is an essential part of the recipe for good nutrition for the Hartzler dairy herd. In fact, according to Josh, it’s hard to tell the Hartzler dairy story without Calcium Products. The Hartzler dairy pasteurizes milk in a slow, careful method, one batch at a time. Just as Calcium Product produces the highest quality products, the Hartzler milk exceeds industry standards by bottling milk in glass bottles. They are more costly to use and handle, but the Hartzlers say glass bottles allow milk to retain more taste, texture and nutrition usually removed by the large, commercial dairy industry by pasteurizing milk faster, cheaper and for a longer shelf-life.

Harold Hartzler, Greg and John’s father, had taken the dairy farm feed program from one of chemicals and conventional feedstuffs to an organic program in 1964. According to John, Calcium Products’ SuperCal SO4 and SuperCal 98G helped make that transition profitable. Neighboring farmers knew the families’ reputation for quality and began purchasing SuperCal SO4 and SuperCal 98G from Harold. They trusted him and could see the results on their own acres. Josh Piatt, Harold’s grandson, has taken over the sales in the year and a half since Harold passed away.

The Hartzlers continue to grow and are looking for even more suppliers of raw milk. They have partnered with a neighbor to produce milk with the same rations as their own; requiring them to use the SuperCal products each year. Raw milk is the limiting factor as demand has increased each year. For example, in addition to their regular business, over 7000 gallons of Hartzler Dairy Egg-nog was shipped to California.

Josh and his wife welcomed their second daughter into the world in late November last year. He says a new generation will be needed to work the Hartzler operation, although it will be a few years before more family members will be old enough.

“We have control of a product that reflects our families’ values,” Josh says, “and we will figure out if we want to get bigger or more intense.”

This week we're excited to be at the Nebraska Power Farming Show (booth #1340) and ACRES USA conference (booth #607) in Kentucky.

Please stop by our booth if you're at one of these shows and say howdy. We'd love to tell you about our SuperCal and discuss the inputs you're currently using.

Hi, my name is Courtney and I'm a city girl that's infiltrating the world of agriculture. Last week I worked the Calcium Products booth at the Iowa Power Farming Show and had a few observations to share.

But first, lest you think I'm kidding about the 'city girl' label, you should know that I've never NOT lived in an urban or suburban area. Even though I went to college here in Iowa and graduated with a few majors they were all in the journalism and design fields. The things I currently grow, or have grown, all fit in a backyard garden plot or a lovely counter or porch pot. Much to the consternation of my farm-raised husband, I call everything from a riding mower to a combine a "tractor." I was hired by Calcium Products to help with marketing and to promote our homeowner line of products. But because we're a small company and we all fill in where needed I've been learning more about ag.

So, without delay, here's a few things I learned at my first farm show:

1.  While most crops flourish the 6.5-6.8 pH range, as home lawns do, alfalfa tends to like a tad higher alkalinity.

2.  Farmers are loyal to the brands they love. I didn't even know there were so many options for logo-branded merchandise! I don't think I saw a single person sans logo or name of an ag-related company. I even saw one strapping lad in John Deere hat, shirt and belt buckle — I get it, you bleed green & gold!

3.  Even if your soil is naturally neutral or alkaline, the regular application of P&K will acidify it. Often a regular low-dose application of our SuperCal 98G lime will help keep things balanced.

4.  Men really are just little boys with toys, they're just bigger. Walking through the large equipment room of the show made me feel about ant-sized. Holy canoli, those are giant tractors! (teasing, teasing!)

5.  Many fields are sulfur-deficient. With cleaner air, our soil isn't pulling sulfur from the environment like it used to so we need to add it (via our SuperCal SO4 is a good way!).

6.  While everyone is loving this extremely warm/dry winter, we're all worrying about the drought. Did you know regular application of gypsum helps your soil be most efficient with the water it has?

7.  Farmers can't get enough pocket-sized notebooks. 

8.  The ag community is extremely welcoming and friendly. So many folks attend shows just to chat and make new friends.

9.  The number one most shocking thing I learned - so many farmers aren't soil testing. They have no idea what nutrients their soil (and therefore their crops) are lacking. They have no idea what their pH range is. This truly blew my mind. I heard so many reasons/excuses/theories I was aghast. One person was applying amendments based on their neighbor's soil tests (from now on I'm going to borrow my neighbor's grocery shopping list. I'm sure it'll be the same thing I need, right?). One guy said he applies ag lime every year even though he hasn't tested in years and had no idea what his pH is. I asked why waste the money since he might not even need it and he said he likes the tax deduction. (Weird, I'd prefer to save money and improve yield!) Several people said they only apply what they apply every year; no changes ever. (If you ate the exact same meal every day, every year, would you get all the nutrients your body needed?) And the story I heard repeatedly that still amazes me - farmers applying based on a soil test from YEARS ago. (If my husband and I applied that same practice to our rental property business, we could just buy 20 faucets this year because that's what we needed in 2006?)

What other things will shock me as I learn more about agriculture?

This week we hosted a soil amendment conference for our dealers and about 75 of them were able to attend. We had a wonderful cast of speakers and we'd love to share the presentations with those of you who weren't able to make it!

Check out this page to download their presentations. We'll have video of each talk coming soon!

 We wanted to pass on some info on a January event that sounds fabulous — "Women Transforming the Landscape" is the 2012 Women, Food & Agriculture Network's annual conference. This year it's Jan. 20-21 in Des Moines and includes a keynote by Debra Eschmeyer, program director of FoodCorps. The conference includes a progressive dinner at some local restaurants and a great local winery.

Definitely sounds like a great event. Check it out or share it with women you know who may be interested!

We wanted to share a news release for the upcoming Practical Farmers of Iowa conference. We're a major sponsor and would love to see you. Get registered now! Learn more:

Registration Opens for Practical Farmers of Iowa 2012 Annual Conference

AMES, IOWA — Practical Farmers of Iowa is now accepting registrations for its 2012 Annual Conference, “Made from Scratch” to be held January 13 – 14 at the Iowa State Center Scheman Building in Ames, Iowa. The event promises to “cook up” a blend of benefits for farmers and consumers as conference sessions explore ways to increase profitability while growing healthful food, strong communities, and clean air and water. Conference check-in will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday. The first session will start at 12:30 p.m.

“We are looking forward to rekindling old friendships and making new friends at the conference,” says Irene Frantzen, New Hampton area farmer, adding, “There is so much knowledge packed into every session. Every year we go, we learn something new.”   

For the first time this year, Practical Farmers of Iowa will be offering an in-depth Soils 101 course at ISU Agronomy Hall before the official start of the conference. Soils 101 starts Thursday, January 12, 1–8 p.m., and will continue on Friday, January 13, 8–11:30 a.m.

The conference will feature keynote speaker Fedele Bauccio, who set out to revolutionize the food service industry when he co-founded Bon Appétit Management Company in 1987. Bauccio was determined to bring fresh, made-from-scratch food to the contract market. Today, the company spends more than $55 million annually on food from within a 150-mile radius of each café, uses only sustainable seafood, sources turkey breast and chicken raised without antibiotics as a routine feed additive, features natural beef burgers and leads the industry in using cage-free shell eggs. In 2007, the company debuted its Low Carbon Diet, the first program to make the connection between food and climate change. Bon Appétit is now a $500 million company with more than 400 cafés in 28 states serving more than 80 million meals a year.

Twenty other in-depth workshops will cover topics ranging from “Farm Strategies for Saving Energy and Money” to “Cover Crops” on Friday and “Real Life Business Plan Vetting” to “Increased Sales Through Season Extension” on Saturday.

The conference is open to the public and registrations are being taken now. Those who register by January 4 will save $10 per day. You can register online or by contacting Patrick at 515.232.5661 or patrick@practicalfarmers.org. 

# # #

Founded in 1985, Practical Farmers of Iowa is an open, supportive and diverse organization of farmers and friends of farmers, advancing profitable, ecologically sound and community-enhancing approaches to agriculture through farmer-to-farmer networking, farmer-led investigation and information sharing. Farmers in our network produce corn, soybeans, beef cattle, hay, fruits and vegetables, and more. For additional information, call 515.232.5661 or visit www.practicalfarmers.org.

 Patrick McGinnity sent me a great article today on calcium.

It is from www.agalert.com. The most widely read agricultural publication in California, Ag Alert® is published weekly by the California Farm Bureau Federation and distributed as a membership benefit to Farm Bureau members. We publish online the top stories from each edition.

To read the article, click on the following link http://www.calciumproducts.com/articles/agalert_organic_and_calcium.pdf

To subscribe to ag alert, go to http://www.cfbf.com

Yield Starts Here is a blog for farmers, focusing on increasing yield and profitability by focusing on the soil. It is managed by Craig Dick, a Blogronomist and Sales and Marketing Manager at Calcium Products. Find other articles by Craig and guest writers at http://blog.calciumproducts.com/ .

Scientists at the USDA-ARS in Orono, Maine have discovered that dairy cows producing USDA-certified organic milk also produce different manure than cows fed in a commerical operation.  The results showed that conventional and organic dairy manures from commercial dairy farms differed in concentrations of plant nutrients, including phosphorus, metals and minerals.

"The researchers found that the two types of manure had at least 17 different chemical forms of phosphorus that varied in concentrations. The organic dairy manure had higher levels of phosphorus, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc and magnesium.

Organic dairy manure also contained more types of phosphorus found in association with calcium and magnesium. Such forms are comparatively slow to dissolve and would thus gradually release the nutrients. Slow-release fertilizers generally increase the likelihood that they eventually will be taken up by crops, rather than being washed out of fields into nearby surface or groundwater sources.

Because of this, slow-release fertilizers often can be applied at comparatively low rates. Manure produced by cows in organic production systems may show similar characteristics compared to manure from conventional systems."

 Read more here-http://www.ars.usda.gov/IS/pr/2009/090422.htm

Wonder why you need 1 lb on Nitrogen per bushel of corn and your neighbor needs 0.5 lbs per bushel?

From Science Daily http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511122416.htm 

"Contrary to the prevailing view, cereal crops derive the majority of their nitrogen from the soil, not fertilizer. Soils differ considerably in microbial activities that determine nitrogen-supplying power, and these differences must be taken into account if nitrogen fertilizers are to be used efficiently. "

Having proper pH and high levels of available calcium are two of the basic steps to increasing the biological activity of your soil.

Have questions about increasing biological activity, give us a call we can help you increase nutrient availability!

800-255-8196

SuperCal 98G and SuperCal SO4 have always been made to standards that are allowable for organic production. Over the past couple of years we have had increasing calls from our customers to have our products certified.

I am pleased to announce that SuperCal 98G and SuperCal SO4 are officially OMRI Listed.

“Since we didn’t have to make any changes to our production there won’t be any big changes in price or availability”, stated Larry Moore, President of Calcium Products. He continued, “Becoming OMRI Certified will make it easier for our organic customers to use our products.”

You can access documentation of our certification by going to the analysis pages of SuperCal SO4 and SuperCal 98G, or by going to http://www.omri.org/.