Stewardship is the process that we use to maintain the integrity of the soil, the water quality and the air quality. We can't make a living off of it if we don't do a good job. Neighbor relations are also important to Sharp's operation. They maintain an open-door policy and give tours to students from kindergarten through college levels. Teachers from Los Angeles and San Francisco even visit.
Educational tours help the public better understand agriculture.
At Kielsmeier Sow Farm, manure and other waste products in the pits are flushed into the first cell of a two-stage anaerobic lagoon. The lagoons have a 24-inch clay liner. Three groundwater-monitoring wells have been installed around the lagoons. The groundwater is tested semiannually for nitrate levels. In 1996, a synthetic plastic liner skirt was added to the top 27 feet of the inside of the two lagoon berms at the Kielsmeier Farm.