Jack Herricks leads by example Jim Massey
COMMITTED TO CONSERVATION: Pat and Jack Herricks have been leaders in the conservation movement in southwest Wisconsin for decades, practicing what they preach. Land stewardship is a key component of this Master Agriculturist’s dairy operation.
Jim Massey | Aug 04, 2021
Suggested Event
Aug 31, 2021 to Sep 02, 2021
Jack Herricks decided at a young age that he wanted to be a dairy farmer, but as the second oldest of 12 children, he didn’t think there was room for him on his family’s small Monroe County, Wis., farm.
That all changed on June 3, 1971, when his father, Leonard Herricks, was killed in a tractor accident. A year into college, Herricks came back to the farm to help his mother, and he has been there ever since.
Leopold Conservation Award winner tells his story At Tainter Creek Watershed Council meeting
TAINTER CREEK WATERSHED - Jack Herricks family began farming their rural Cashton farm in 1912. The farm sits at the headwaters of Brush Creek, a Kickapoo River tributary that joins with the river near Ontario. Originally, the family farmed 124 acres and milked 34 cows. Today, Herricks farms 1,120 acres, rents another 470 acres, and milks 600 cows.
“I started farming in 1971 when I was 19-years-old, and had already had a fair bit of experience,” Herricks said. “Farming as a career is a real blessing for myself, and I still enjoy it. It’s great to be able to go through life that way.”
Leopold conservation award winner to address watershed council Tainter Creek
The 2014 Leopold Conservation Award winner, Jack Herricks, will address the farmers of the Tainter Creek Watershed Council at their Thursday, March 18 meeting, from 7-9 p.m.. Herricks operates a 600-cow dairy near Cashton, and was a participant in the UW-Discovery Farms’ Jersey Valley Watershed project to research links between edge-of-field runoff and water quality.
The Herricks have been practicing no-till farming since 1992, as well as other conservation practices such as cover crops, soil erosion control measures, runoff reduction measures, careful manure management, forestry management, and enhancement of wildlife habitat. Herricks will share his enthusiasm, experience, and data collected through his on-farm conservation agriculture practices.