Luke Laufenberg

Luke Laufenberg has served on the Yahara Pride Farms board for two years. A sixth-generation farmer, he and his family grow 750 acres of crops and milk 250 cows. Along with his father, Dave; uncle Fred; and cousin, Kurt, the Laufenbergs raise between 2,000 to 2,500 hogs each year. The family also owns and operates Laufenberg Meats, located on the family farm between Middleton and Waunakee.

The most rewarding aspect of being involved with Yahara Pride Farms is being proactive and part of the solution to water quality issues in the Yahara Watershed, Luke says. In 2021, Yahara Pride Farms members reduced phosphorus loss to the Madison chain of lakes and the Yahara River by 61,706 pounds. That exceeded the Dane County/Wisconsin DNR nonpoint-phosphorus-loss goal of 54,673 pounds.

YPF members have continued to meet or surpass those goals, Luke says. 

He and his family grow corn, alfalfa, and wheat. Their rotation involves two to three years of no-till corn followed by alfalfa. About 40 acres is corn on corn. The family has long practiced no till and has invested in its own no-till planting equipment. The Laufenbergs also grow rye and barley as cover crops and harvest the rye to feed their heifers.

“We’re short on land so we need to produce as much as possible (on those acres),” he says.

Because most of their farmland is close to bedrock, they surface apply manure. No-till practices and cover crops help keep manure from running off the fields and have helped to improve organic matter,

“We’re pushing cover crops to improve organic matter,” Luke says. “We’re currently at 3 to 3.5 percent; I want to get to 5 percent.”

But he recognizes that meeting that goal won’t happen overnight.

“You can’t look at these practices as short-term solutions,” he says. “If you look at them longer term, the more successful you’ll be in setting up future generations for success.”