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Harness power of alfalfa

Marie Flanagan North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education
Aug 20, 2026
6 hrs ago

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Adam Hurtgen and partner Cynthia Bartel say protecting natural resources is just as vital as feeding their 160-cow herd.

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Hurtgenlea Holsteins, a six-generation farm near Elkhorn, Wisconsin, is home to about 140 dairy cows.

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Feed analysis conducted by Rock River Laboratory shows that nutritional quality remains exceptional across intercropping systems.

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Marie Flanagan North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education

ELKHORN, Wis. – For Adam Hurtgen is a sixth-generation dairy farmer at Hurtgenlea Holsteins near Elkhorn. He and partner Cynthia Bartel say protecting natural resources is just as vital as feeding their 160-cow herd. With support from a $14,355 SARE Farmer Rancher grant, they’ve turned a 4.4-acre plot into a living laboratory to test a single-pass alfalfa-corn silage intercropping system.

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Marie Flanagan is a senior editor for North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. North Central Region is one of four regional offices that run the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, a nationwide grants and education program to advance sustainable innovation to American agriculture. The program offers competitive grants and educational opportunities for producers, scientists, educators, institutions, organizations and others exploring sustainable agriculture in America’s Midwest.

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