Sustainable Agriculture:

Using a variety of cultural practices, LHF farms its land in a sustainable manner. The farm has been strip tilling for approximately fifteen years and no tilling soybeans for nearly twenty years. In addition, LHF still performs conventional tillage where fitting. The reduced tillage practices are beneficial because they conserve soil and save money by reducing trips across the field. “In evaluating what tillage practice to use on a particular farm, we try to take into consideration several factors,” states Curt, “These factors would include the farm’s soils and how they lay and its history in terms of erosion and fertility. We also work with our landlords if they have certain preferences for how we operate on their land.”

Rental Arrangements:

In addition to maintaining a strong commitment to land stewardship, LHF builds strong commitments to its landlords and business partners. Lanehaven Farms is very flexible in the types of arrangements they operate with. They rent land with crop share and cash rental agreements. They also use a variety of flexible cash rents that include provisions for yield and/or price variability.”

Precision Farming:

In an effort to constantly improve its production techniques, Lanehaven Farms uses Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to control and record everything from fertilizer application to harvest. LHF uses state of the art GPS receivers known as Real Time Kinematic (RTK). This precise GPS communicates with a network of base stations to correct its signal within an inch of accuracy, and is the engine behind real time operations mapping, autosteer, and product application control. Field collected data is processed in house and analyzed using ArcView, a Geographic Information System.

Besides implementing the latest tools in precision farming, LHF is on the forefront with biotechnology. Biotechnology can make farming more profitable by increasing crop yields and quality and safeguarding crops against disease, insects and weeds. As a result, both farmers and consumers benefit from the application of biotechnology. Lanehaven Farms has employed numerous biotechnology tools for over a decade and is always careful to protect their effectiveness using refuge and rotational management.

Looking Ahead:

We look forward with excitement to the coming years in agriculture.  We know that there will be challenges and many dramatic changes, but we are optimistic that Lanehaven will navigate its way through the years successfully. To accomplish this, we will seek creative complements to our traditional farming operation in an effort to keep Lanehaven Farms a viable family business well into the twenty-first century.

In addition to major changes in crop production, the hog industry also looks very different from decades gone by.  Technology advancements in production and genetics have yielded better, more cost efficient pork for consumers.  The industry and our farm continue to adapt to the important and relevant concerns about such issues as the environment, public and worker safety, and animal welfare.  Toward these ends, we are committed to continuous improvement and are open to change.