Dairy farmer Bonnie Haugen told a congressional subcommittee on Tuesday that the 160 cows she raises on a hillside in Fillmore County impact more than butterfor those in her corner of the state.
"What I do on my hills truly does impact water quality," said Haugen, speaking before a Subcommittee on Environment hearing on regenerative agriculture practices. "The rain drops landing on you may have landed [first] on my cows' backs."
Haugen is a firm believer that the practices she implements on her farm have global significance.
Tuesday's hearing on Capitol Hill opened with Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and the subcommittee chair, arguing that regenerative practices can "lower carbon emissions, provide clean water, clean air, and rebuild farm communities."
Dairy farms — especially large, concentrated feeding operations with hundreds of cows — have been accused of polluting water systems with excessive manure. But the drive to get bigger or go out of business has created an uncomfortable tension for many Minnesota dairy farmers.
Haugen, owner of Springside Dairy on a southeastern Minnesota farm 50 miles from the Mississippi River, said she practices regenerative agriculture on her 270 acres, rotationally grazing her dairy cows and maintaining diverse forage on her pasture, including clover.
Critics of regenerative agriculture maintain the practices — while environmentally laudable or even productive for yields — aren't economically sustainable for all, if even most, commercial farmers.
Rep. Mike Flood, a Nebraska Republican, critiqued Haugen during questioning Tuesday, asking another witness — Brian Lacefield, director of the Kentucky Office of Agricultural Policy — if he'd been in the room when Haugen shared the size of her dairy herd.
