![]() ![]() A closeup of the flume at right shows sediment runoff from a potato field. ![]() How did you end up becoming a certified crop advisor (CCA) and a precision ag/nutrient management planner? I started at AgSource (now VAS) doing soil sampling when Above: As part of an ongoing water flow and phosphorus monitoring program, Chuck Bolte and his VAS Laboratories team, with funding from the WPVGA, University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms and The Nature Conservancy, have set up three Edge of Field Monitoring Stations in the Antigo Flats area. From there, I moved to Frito-Lay research in Rhinelander for a year before starting at AgSource Laboratories, now VAS Laboratories, where I have been employed since. Upon graduation, I took a job as county conservationist for Richland County for five years. During school, I held several jobs, including scouting potatoes for Pest Pro s, and with Oneida County Planning and Zoning, and the Jefferson County Land Conservation Department. What experience do you have in the field via your career? My love of playing in the dirt led me to UW- Stevens Point, where I majored in soil science with minors in biology and waters. Perfect soil and moisture, and of course it had dairy manure. It was magical how Grandma could grow the best of everything in that garden. How I wish I could move that soil to my current residence in Rhinelander. My grandparents had a registered Ayrshire dairy farm near Lake Poygan, and I always enjoyed visiting them and helping with my grandma s garden. ![]() Do you have an agriculture background, Chuck, and if so, in what respect? I grew up on the outskirts of Appleton, Wisconsin, The goal of VAS Laboratories remains the same to create clarity out of research and raw data points, equipping growers with the power to make informed management decisions. Known for its VAS PULSE Platform and Dairy-Comp cattle monitoring database software, VAS has an extensive background in web-based suites, including field data collection and monitoring for farms. With a 50-plus-year history of soil testing and nutrient management planning, AgSource Laboratories, a full-service agronomy lab, recently merged with its sister company, VAS, a leader in software for dairy operations. The project of controlling and monitoring phosphorous runoff started in early 2016 when the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) awarded AgSource Laboratories a grant to build a spatial database of the PI (Phosphorus Index) for all the potato growers in the area. The Antigo Flats is designated by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection as an area with unique characteristics that best represent the state soil Antigo silt loam. ![]() Potato growers in the Antigo Flats area of Wisconsin are taking a leadership role in an effort to proactively control phosphorus runoff in the Spring Brook and Eau Claire River watersheds. 8 BC T August For his ongoing water flow and phosphorus monitoring project in the Antigo Flats potato and vegetable production area, Chuck Bolte of VAS Laboratories, formerly known as AgSource Laboratories, has been awarded WPVGA competitive research grants annually for several years. Interview CHUCK BOLTE, manager, Ag Consulting Services, VAS Laboratories By Joe Kertzman, managing editor, Badger Common Tater NAME: Chuck Bolte TITLE: Manager-Ag Consulting Services COMPANY: VAS Laboratories LOCATION: Northeast Wisconsin YEARS IN PRESENT POSITION: 1.5, but 25 years with the organization PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT: Richland County Land Conservation Department and Frito-Lay SCHOOLING: University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point AWARDS/HONORS: 2016 Wisconsin Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) of the Year FAMILY: Wife, Kim, and stepson, Ryan HOBBIES: Gardening, turkey hunting, fishing, woodworking and visiting micro-distilleries and breweries Above: For his work focused on phosphorus runoff in the Antigo Flats region of Wisconsin, and looking at soil health as the driver to reduce the phenomenon, Chuck Bolte of VAS Laboratories, formerly known as AgSource Laboratories, has been awarded several Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) competitive research grants over the years. ![]()
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