Milk as a fertilizer?

KERKHOVEN, Minn. — Despite not having a farm background, Bailey Ohren has become immersed in agriculture and FFA after participating in her school’s agriscience fair. Now, five years later, she is working with farmers, agronomists and other industry experts to research milk as a fertilizer.

Ohren is an incoming senior at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg High School. This summer, she is taking samples of corn grown by three area farmers using a gallon of milk per acre as fertilizer.

Her project started with a fascination with a problem plaguing many family refrigerators.

“I’ve always been curious about why some milk goes bad faster than others, like skim milk versus whole milk,” Ohren said. “That led me into looking at the amount of milk waste we have through production and dumping, and then into the use of milk on fields as a greener option than commercial chemical fertilizers, like anhydrous ammonia.”

While researching, Ohren found studies in Asia that used milk as an alternative to chemicals and fertilizers. Inspired, she worked with her agricultural instructor, Christa Williamson, along with her FFA advisors and other teachers to create her own experiment plan.

“It took a while to come up with how we were going to do it,” Ohren said. “We first tested the milk for its nutrient profile — looking at its nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium — and figuring out how much milk would be needed to fertilize a soil.”

In the first year of her project, Ohren used milk donated from Brody Lindquist and his family farm, Rolo Dairy, to see how milk infiltrated soil, while also comparing filtration rates of water and synthetic fertilizer.

Wanting Ohren to succeed, Williamson discussed the experiment with former students, local farmers and even her own son, Daniel, who is an agronomist.

“Part of the fun of the project is all of the former students that we (had) have (been) involved in it,” Williamson said. “We also worked with the science teacher, the biology teacher (and) the physical science teacher.”

Ohren used a Derek Krieger Memorial Supervised Agricultural Experience grant to have the milk analyzed at a lab. One of Williamson’s former students, Jared Carlson, an agronomist at Glacial Plains Cooperative in Murdock, used the results to help make them a fertilizer.

“My first project was just the laboratory side of it,” Ohren said. “I tested each soil — one with water, one with chemical fertilizer and one with milk as a fertilizer — and it had no statistical difference. So we said, ‘Let’s try this on a field.’”

Ohren then put together a written plan that she gave to Williamson.

“I presented it at our alumni meeting to our KMS FFA Alumni/Ag Boosters, and many of them were very excited about the project,” Williamson said.

Another one of Williamson’s former students, Jared Krieger, was interested in working with Ohren and discussed her project with TYPE farmer, Mitchell Swanson, and dairy farmer, Paul Beckman. Beckman, whose farm had already been experimenting with milk to improve crop production, and Swanson were intrigued and wanted to be involved.

Each of the three farms signed up to plant 10 acres of corn, using a gallon of milk per acre, for Ohren to investigate the effects.

“It’s been wonderful. (The farmers) are all so knowledgeable in their own ways, and it’s great to come together as a community and get people excited about the work,” Ohren said.

While the crops continue to grow this season, Ohren has gone to the fields to collect leaf samples from corn that has used milk and corn that has not. Using another grant, Ohren is sending the leaves to have their tissue nutrients analyzed. She will collect another set after tasseling.

Ohren has also been calculating growing degree units to determine when the corn is at the right stage temperature-wise. Williamson said this ensures they collect samples at the same stage in all fields.

“We went out to one of the fields, and one specific individual is relatively new to crop production, so he had never calculated that before,” she said. “It was fun to have Bailey teaching him what she was learning as well. It’s been this huge circle of showing how truly passionate the agricultural community is about helping the next generation learn and grow.”

Once harvest is complete, Krieger, Swanson and Beckman will report their yield from the corn and control acres, allowing Ohren to analyze the data for trends. She will use the research to compete in her final FFA Agriscience Fair this coming school year.

Williamson, who has watched Ohren grow over the years, said she has noticed Ohren’s increased independence and self-directedness in her research.

“The biggest growth that I see is that her project has become much more driven by her thoughts and what she wants to learn, and it’s really opening up to more than just milk,” she said.

Ohren was first introduced to the world of agriculture through her seventh-grade life science class. The class, taught by Williamson, had an emphasis on agriculture.

“Her class was so much fun because they were so curious,” Williamson said. “I have a lot of students who come from backgrounds like Bailey, where they were born and raised in town, but haven’t really been exposed to those careers that are out there.”

That year, Ohren and her peers were required to do an agriscience fair project. The experience encouraged her to join FFA in eighth grade, which she has been a part of since. As Ohren continued in FFA, her projects centered on how food systems, pathways and production work.

As she prepares for her senior year, Ohren said she is grateful for the mentors and community members who have supported her along the way.

“I always wanted to do something bigger or lead up to something that could affect my community and leave an impact — or just leave knowledge to somebody somewhere,” she said. “This has already been more than I ever expected it could have been.”

Looking ahead to college, Ohren is exploring genetics-based careers that will allow her to continue researching and helping others.

“The aspect of giving back to my community in a different way, and still researching, even if it’s not agriculturally, is really something I want,” she said.