Sustainability Stories

Education and conservation are the two absolutes for Joe and Christy Tomandl—after all, they met in college while they were studying to become teachers for agricultural curriculum, and now use that same foundation to help preserve their farmland. With backgrounds in education, they knew conservation would be key to longevity, creating an in-depth conservation plan by rotationally grazing cattle, restoring the wetland near their farm and purposely grazing cows to help protect the woodland. Because of their work, Tomandl Farms exceeded the soil conservation requirements set by Wisconsin’s Farmland Preservation Program, earning a gold standard designation and a 2022 Leopold Conservation Award. It doesn’t stop there—the Tomandls use their background in education and passion for conservation to educate others through the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship, registered as a national apprenticeship by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2015, training more than 200 farms across 15 states in the art of preservation.

Kyle Zwieg is in the business of looking towards the future—after all, without the land, there’s no farm. Zwieg’s Maple Acres is a seventh-generation dairy farm, and with a long history, their goal is to preserve the land for years to come, which is why sustainability comes first. Since 2011, Zwieg’s Maple Acres has been a meaningful contributor to the Tall Pines Conservancy, chartering a conservation easement on their land to protect it from further development. Any funds from the easement were reinvested into the farm. Zwiegs served as one of 15 pilot participants in the Protection of Agriculture Conservation Easements (PACE) Program, quickly becoming leaders in the farm community. They also chartered a watershed group, Farmers for Lake Country. With a rich history of conservation and leadership, the Zwieg family hasn’t slowed down, constantly looking for opportunities to make an impact on their local community and in America’s Dairyland.