Mike and Tammy Wilson started from the ground up when they purchased 75 acres in 1999.

Overgrown with hedge apples, cedars and thorn trees, Mike used a track hoe and dozer to clean up Whispering Hills Farm acre by acre. After their home was built, the Wilsons used timber harvested from the property to build fence posts and two barns.

Conservation practices that protect soil, water and wildlife habitat were critical in turning an unproductive piece of land into a successful beef cattle business. After re-establishing a mix of forages on 45 acres of pastures, Mike began a rotational grazing system to efficiently prevent overgrazing and provide a month-long rest period to allow for plant regrowth.

Thirty acres of forests were maintained, as were 300-foot wooded buffers between pastures and creeks to prevent soil erosion and protect water quality. In addition to leasing 65 acres for grazing, the Wilsons have purchased adjacent parcels that bring their farm’s size to 197 acres.

Alleyways were installed to facilitate rotational grazing, as were nine frost-free automatic waterers connected by a water distribution system. Forage density is maintained by providing 2.5 acres to every cow-calf pair.

To minimize soil disturbance from hoof traffic during winter months, Mike experimented with portable wagons and bale grazing. He was one of two Kentucky farmers to participate in a six-state, three-year project with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service to evaluate the practical, economic, and ecological benefits of bale grazing.

In addition to labor and machinery costs, a benefit of bale grazing is the improved capture of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). About 80 percent of nutrients fed to cattle pass through their gut into their manure. When managed property, the nutrients and organic matter in manure can be recycled to produce crops and forage, while saving money.

Mike strives to educate himself on new technologies but is not one to adopt the latest fad. Instead, he acts after careful consultation with subject matter experts.

In 2017, he built a heavy use feed pad to accommodate feeding cattle during the winter. His Bo Renfro feeding structure uses a concrete pad, fencing, geotextile fabric, and gravel to serve as the hub of a rotational grazing system. Cattle from multiple pastures can be managed to be temporarily confined or free to enter and exit the structure as they please. Feeders keep hay from being trampled, and cattle do not create muddy conditions around their feed and water sources.

With financial assistance from a state cost share program, Mike has since built two more heavy use feed pads, each serves multiple nearby pastures.

“Mike and I have collaborated closely on many on-farm trials,” said Tommy Yankey, a retired Agriculture Extension Agent from Anderson County. “His farm serves as a mini experiment station having hosted many farm tours throughout the years to share successes and failures.”

Recently, one of his pastures was planted with a mix of collards, crimson clover, and triticale, as part of a University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment study on extending the grazing season in cool weather.

As chairman of the Anderson County Conservation District, Mike’s peers have called him creative, sincere, and persistent when looking for ways to enhance and care for natural resources.