Fultz Farms Inc.

Eric Fultz, Dennis Fultz, Jay Fultz, James Fultz and Brian Fultz

Redwood SWCD 2022 Outstanding Conservationist

The Fultzes’ conservation efforts over the last 75 years makes the decision to nominate them for this award an easy one.  They have worked with Redwood Soil & Water Conservation District staff to refine their farming operation and protect the soil and water resources of the land they operate on.  Whether it be planting trees or grass for wildlife habitat or placing berms to prevent gully erosion, the Fultzes’ were quick to utilize District staff knowledge and funding opportunities to implement conservation.  We admire their efforts to keep pushing forward with projects even when it seemed like an uphill battle to get them implemented and did not directly benefit their operation.

Leadership in the Community

The Fultz’s play a very active role in the Tracy area community especially when it comes to education and community development which is especially important for small rural communities.  The Fultzes’ are involved with the Tracy Area Education Foundation which aims to provide a means for channeling charitable donations that promote educational excellence and personal growth for students attending Tracy Area Public Schools.  Eric, Dennis and Jay have also sat on the Tracy school board helping to shape and keep the local public school thriving in their small community. To help ensure the Tracy area remains a thriving community, Dennis is involved with the local Economic Development Authority which aims to seek grant-based development opportunities to maintain and improve the infrastructure in the Tracy area.

Youth Programs

Local youth are important to the Fultz family.  They help provide opportunities for youth through the Returning Our Youth Outdoors (ROYO) which is a local nonprofit organization that aims to find outdoor activities for youth to enjoy. The program provides ways for youth to enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing, hunting, and golfing. The Fultzes’ have provided mentoring, set aside lands for hunting and fishing, and financial donations to promote opportunities for youth through the ROYO organization.

Redwood SWCD Board

In the early 1980’s, Dennis Fultz was an elected member of the Board of Supervisors for the Redwood Soil and Water Conservation District where he served two terms. During his six years on the board, Dennis was able to use his farming expertise to ensure Redwood County producers’ conservation needs and concerns were being met.  Conservation is especially important within Redwood County due to the differences in topography throughout the county.

Addressing Flooding in the Area

For the last 10 years, discussions have been ongoing regarding how to help reduce the impacts of flooding at and downstream of the Tracy golf course. The Fultzes’ own property that provided a possible solution to this flooding dilemma.  With the help of Area II, the Redwood SWCD was able to engineer and develop a plan that would address this problem, but funding this expensive project became the next obstacle. Area II was able to secure state money to cover up to 75% of the project costs, but the remaining 25% still needed to be secured.  Project estimates put the costs to construct the grade stabilization structure at $436,000, so the landowners and private individuals within the 2,500 acre watershed need to come up with $110,000 for the local match.

Over the course of the last 10 years a few options were explored, one of which was a special taxing district. The creation of a special taxing district does not happen overnight and comes with a rather lengthy timeline, a few years to be exact.  In 2021 at one of the many meetings held over this issue several landowners within the watershed including the Fultzes’, threw out the idea of funding the project privately without the use of the lengthy special taxing district.  Over the next few weeks enough landowners and private individuals, including the Fultzes, committed financial assistance to cover the remaining cost. Redwood and Lyon counties saw the benefit of this collaborative effort and also committed funds to the project.  In the fall of 2021 construction began and was competed on the project just before winter set in. 

This is an excellent example of the Fultzes’ commitment to conservation.  They understood that some of the water coming off their fields was part of the problem and they also owned an area that held the solution.  Understanding that the project itself would not directly benefit them, but more so the landowners downstream, they still pushed forward with the project that could have easily been forgotten over the years. This also shows the Fultzes good standing with the neighbors within the watershed. Neighbors that could have very easily walked away and not committed funding to the project.

Additional Conservation Efforts

Forestry Improvement and Establishment

Early on in their farming history, the Fultz Family worked with District staff to design and implement tree practices to help protect their fields and farmstead from the strong Minnesota prairie winds. In 1963 the Fultzes’ installed a living snow fence compromised of trees and shrubs in an effort to keep windblown snow from accumulating on their homestead. In 1970, they added a farmstead shelterbelt to help protect livestock and their home farm from these strong winds. They also installed field windbreaks on fields susceptible to wind-driven erosion. While most of these practices are rather old, the Fultzes’ utilized the district tree program to plant and purchase over 3,000 trees that not only protected their farmstead and fields but provide refuge for wildlife as well.

Wind Erosion Practices

The Fultzes understand that water erosion is not the only factor that accounts for soil loss on their cropland, but also that wind-driven erosion also factors into this. While field windbreaks provided some relief they knew that leaving more residue out in the field would definitely help with wind erosion.  Over the years as tillage equipment progressed they are able to use minimal tillage techniques and equipment that leaves more residue levels on the surface over the winter months when crops are not growing. It is not uncommon for the family to avoid highly erodible areas on high knobs, prone to wind erosion, leaving the ground intact until the following spring in an effort to reduce wind erosion to their cropland. 

Cropland Management

The Fultzes employ a minimal tillage operation on both corn and soybean rotations understanding the need to keep as much residue as possible on the surface to help ensure their soils stay out in the field and out of nearby surface water. Fall tillage after corn is accomplished with a subsoiler to help preserve residue on the surface and also ensure deep compaction is broken. In the spring a single pass of a field cultivator is necessary to prep soil for soybean planting and ensures 30% of the ground is covered with residue to help alleviate soil loss until the soybean crop has had time to establish.  After the soybean harvest, fertilization begins for the following year’s corn crop. Approximately half their acres receive swine manure that is properly tested and applied based on crop needs following the University of Minnesota’s recommendations.  Manure is applied with variable rate technology and minimal disturbance injection of slurry, to again keep residue levels as high as possible.   

Integrated Pest Management

Pest management is accomplished with the help of Centrol Crop Consulting. The Fultzes understand that in-field pest problems are always changing due to resistance and other factors they recognize that is better left to the professionals.  They do, however, take an active role in scouting their 6,500 acres of tillable cropland looking for pest issues. When an issue arises they turn to their consultant to help them mitigate the pests.  The consultant will make the recommendation as to when and what to spray to eliminate the pest issue.  It’s important to the Fultzes’ to monitor economic threshold levels of pests and ensure it’s done properly, with the right herbicide or pesticide, and not just spray because they see the neighbors out doing it.  They control pests based on threshold levels not timing.  Pests are also mitigated by their rotating crop rotation and on fields with reoccurring pest problems seed varieties with greater resistance to these pests are utilized.

Livestock and Manure Management Practices

The Fultzes’ run a swine operation placing approximately 58,000 pigs per year. In the past, the Fultz family did swine farrowing to finish, but now they are only finishing swine.  Piglets are brought in weighing 14-16 lbs. and sold when their weight approaches approximately 300 lbs. The manure products produced by the swine operation are used to fertilize approximately half of their tillable acres each year.  The liquid manure is kept in pits until full and then tested for nutrient content to ensure proper application levels. Nitrogen inhibitors are also utilized with the swine manure to ensure less nitrogen loss to the environment, which also allows time for corn to establish and utilize the nitrogen in the manure. A majority of the manure that is custom applied is variable rated with synthetic fertilizer to meet the University recommendations as well as applied with low disturbance injection to increase residue amounts. 

Buffer Practices

The Fultzes understand that buffering surface waters is an effective way to keep them free of sediment and provide a buffer from spraying equipment.  All the surface waters within their’ 7,300 acre operation have been buffered with filter strips or riparian areas along natural streams that they are unable to farm.  When the Minnesota buffer law came into effect, the Fultzes only had to extend a few buffer areas on some public waters.

Wildlife Practices

Of the approximately 7,300 acres the family owns or operates, 800 acres are non-cropped and managed for wildlife habitat. Most of these areas are located along drainage systems or are non-cropped areas that they are unable to farm. In 2001 District staff worked with the Fultzes to enroll 17.3 acres along one of these drainage systems into the CREP-RIM easement program.  It was an existing area that was predominately brome grass, but the Futlzes’ worked with District staff to reseed the area with a 15 specie native mix as well as add 3 acres of wildlife food plots where corn or soybeans are planted and left for the area wildlife to eat on through the winter months.

In 2009, District staff again worked with Eric Fultz to take an area that was not cropped and didn’t qualify for any set-aside programs to turn the area into a wildlife sanctuary. Rather than let the area be taken over by invasive trees, they decided to plant trees that benefit wildlife for both forage and shelter. In this area, District staff designed, planted and mated over 350 trees and shrubs that provide value to wildlife. The thirteen tree rows were compromised of spruce, maple, walnut, dogwood, chokecherry, and cranberry.  The Fultzes understand the value of wildlife on their landscape and make sure to provide areas for the abundant deer, pheasants, birds and other wildlife to flourish. 

The Fultz Family: A Long History in Conservation

In 1947, Bernard and Elena Fultz began farming 140 areas in Redwood County, acquiring more cropland as time went by. Then in 1975 the Fultzes formed a partnership compromised of Bernard and his two sons Dennis and Dean. In 1991 the Fultzes formed Fultz Farms Inc.,. which consists of Dennis and his son Jay, as well as Eric and his two sons James and Brian. Over the last 75 years, the Fultz family have grown from a 140 acre operation to farming approximately 7,300 acres including a small swine operation.

Over this time period, the Fultz Family has worked closely with the Redwood SWCD to accomplish their conservation goals. Early on, the Fultzes utilized District staff to design, implement, and help fund tree planting activities for field windbreaks, farmstead shelterbelts, and living snow fences. They also utilized District staff to construct two waterways and two grade stabilization structures to stop gully erosion utilizing District cost-share programs for all these activities.

In 2020, Eric Fultz approached District staff and asked if there was anything we could do about some gully erosion that was occurring in one of his fields that was hit hard from major rain events in the years prior. We were able to put a design together that was compromised of three farmable water and sediment control basins and one grade stabilization structure.  The District worked with the Fultzes to secure funding through the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentive Program and state cost share to bring the out-of-pocket expense to only 25 percent of the total project cost.. In the fall of 2021 the project was constructed and completed.

The District Staff is also working closely with the Fultz family to install water & sediment control basins for one of their neighboring landowners in the fall of 2022.  Water coming off of one of their fields is causing erosion on adjacent fields for the neighboring landowner. Redwood SWCD worked with Eric Fultz to develop a plan that would place a berm on the line fence to help control the erosion on the neighbor’s property. Water will be backed up on the Fultzes’ property during large rain events and pond for a period of 28 hours before metering out to avoid causing crop damage. This will help his neighbor’s gully erosion issues downstream from the project site. This is just another example of the Fultzes’ understanding that some of their water is causing headaches for their fellow neighbors and their willingness to help out even though the project does not directly benefit them.

Conservationist of the Year

The Conservationist of the Year awards program recognizes farm families, individuals, conservation organizations, and other groups for their accomplishments in implementing conservation practices and improving Minnesota’s natural resources. Of the eight finalists, one will be announced as the State’s Outstanding Conservationist of the Year on December 14, 2022.

“Redwood Soil and Water Conservation District is proud of the hard work the Fultz Farm INC. has done in conserving the natural resources in our area,” said Scott Wold, supervisor of the Redwood Soil and Water Conservation District, which nominated the Fultz Farm INC. for the award.  “The Fultzes’ conservation efforts over the last 75 years make the decision to nominate them for this award an easy one.  They have worked with the District staff to refine their farming operation to protect the soil and water resources of Redwood County and the other counties they operate land in.  We admire the Fultzes’ for their efforts to keep pushing forward with  conservation projects whether it is planting trees, or grass for wildlife habitat or placing berms to prevent gully erosion, the Fultzes’ are quick to utilize District staff knowledge and funding opportunities to implement conservation.”