Manure from a Missouri hog operation set up by the Brinker brothers – Kenny, Dale and Ronnie – has been an integral part of bringing back soil that had been depleted of nutrients and severely eroded. When it comes to environmental stewardship, and nutrient management, the Brinker brothers of Missouri were instrumental in literally bringing a farm back from the brink. In 1993, the three brothers – Kenny, Dale and Ronnie Brinker – set up a hog operation, Harrison Creek Farm, near Auxvasse, Missouri, about two hours west of St. Louis. The land the hog operation was located on, however, was depleted of nutrients and severely eroded. It has been a long, steady climb back since then, but good soil conservation practices and a comprehensive nutrient management plan have taken what was barren soil to high levels of productivity. And an integral part of bringing some of the acreage back involved the use of manure effluent from the swine operation. Harrison Creek Farm has built up a relationship with the University of Missouri, which is basically down the road in Columbia. They had the assistance of nutrient specialists John Lorey and Charlie Fulhage in laying out operations on the farm, and determining the best site for the hog barns and the lagoon. There have been other significant improvements to the farm. Some 36 different waterways have been installed on their total acreage through Missouri’s Continuous CRP and federal EQIP programs. Six miles of terraces have been built, draining water into the waterways, helping to prevent erosion. There have been subsequent land purchases since they first set up the farm – the Brinkers now farm 4400 acres, mostly a corn soybean rotation, all no-till. Kenny noted they purchased a nearby farm in the last several years, and they’ve since carried out grid sampling on that acreage and – for the first time – are trying variable rate fertilization. There may be further land purchases, Kenny added. “A lot of financial advisors would tell you to spread your investment out, buy a little of this and a little of that. But from our perspective, we’ve grown up knowing how to farm and are very comfortable with that. “If we have the ability and things work out well, we would probably buy other farmland in the area. We take great enjoyment in taking a piece of ground like we had here that was a little neglected and bringing it back into productivity and making it a nice looking place.”