We partner with farmers all around the state. Read their stories and find connections in your area by clicking on the regions below.
For nearly 50 years, Carl has been fostering his family’s farm back to the native prairie. He still combines every year, harvesting prairie seed rather than grain, but there is no need for planting or any other inputs. Rather than restarting every year, the prairie’s diversity builds upon itself through Carl’s management of prescribed burns and the physical removal or spot spraying of invasive species.
Read MoreWhen Chris Henning left her family’s farm in Jefferson in 1965, she had no intention of returning. She was 18, and as the oldest of 7 sisters, she knew how to drive a tractor and do any farm chore from an early age. When she did return to Greene County in 1991 with her late husband Max, their idea was to live in the country but not farm. As fate would have it, they did purchase a severely depleted piece of land which Chris has spent much of the last three decades nursing back to health.
Read MoreMark farms just under 1000 acres in Badger Iowa, about 15 minutes north of Fort Dodge. As a young man, he farmed alongside his father and grandfather, who abandoned the moldboard in the 60s. Continuing his grandfather’s legacy, Mark switched to minimum tillage 20 years ago and cover crops in the last 10 years. He admits that when he first implemented cover crops, there were a few years when he “got burned by not listening to how the older farmers made it work.”
Read MoreAlthough Lee didn’t grow up in Iowa, his family has been farming outside Slater since the mid-1800s. Since he returned to the family land in the early 80s, Lee has continually experimented with the cutting edge of conservation practices, while maintaining high levels of productivity. Lee’s strong ethic for water quality has specifically led to the installation of 3 saturated buffers and a bioreactor.
Read MoreIn 1978, Rob Stout began farming 400 acres with his dad. Over the years he has grown the operation and now employs cover crops on his entire 1,100 acres. From the outset, Rob has been deeply interested in the cutting-edge agronomic practices that help conserve our natural resources. He started with minimum tillage, but it didn’t take long for him to jump into no-till and purchase a no-till planter with his dad in 1983.
Read MoreThe 160-acre in Floyd County where Dennis and Patty Staudt raise corn and soybeans has been farmed by Staudts since 1877. When Dennis took over from his father in 1981, both he and Patty (formerly Heithoff) had been math teachers in Fort Dodge. Their love of math transferred well to a joy in finding efficiencies on his farm. Similarly, his Catholic faith informs his desire to leave the land better than when he began farming.
Read MoreDick Sloan was raised on a farm a few miles away from the 320 acres he’s farmed since 1978, both just outside Brandon. While he was raised with a strong emphasis on conservation, his practices continue to evolve as he innovates tirelessly towards greater efficiency and resilience. A strong believer in experimentation, he told us that he’s “not afraid to make mistakes, because it’s the only way to find what works best on your land.”
Read MoreOne of Bryan Sievers’ most vivid memories is of his father planting into an old pasture with an early no-till planter he rented. At that time, it took four men standing on each row of the planter to get adequate down pressure. Continuing the strong conservation ethic of his father, Bryan has made agricultural innovation his life’s work, as he is one of only three farmers in Iowa who utilizes anaerobic digester technology.
Read MoreWhen Matt and his husband Patrick bought their farm to raise grass-finished cattle in Marion County, they “bet the farm that there was an opportunity.” It was 2004, at the beginning of the local food movement. They developed Coyote Run Farms into a sustainable, relationship-based business, and set-up at the Des Moines farmer’s market every week for their first six years.
Read MoreAlong with his brother, Doug took over operations of his family’s two century farms outside Wilton in 2004. At the time, they had deep concerns about soil erosion in their community and needed a system which would ensure the longevity of the farm’s living systems. Thus, the two immediately bought a no-till planter, even though they had some initial uncertainty about the practice.
Read MoreFrank Moore’s insight is unique in multiple regards. Firstly, his family doesn’t trace farming back multiple generations. Although neither of Frank’s parents grew up on farms, their family moved to Cresco in 1969 to raise crops and pure bred sows. Soon after Frank returned to help on the farm, he took a job at the local NRCS office to help the family continue farming and expand before the farm crisis struck.
Read MoreJim Lindaman considers himself “retired.” But in truth, he still farms the 100 tillable acres of his hilly, century farm in Butler County. What’s more, he continues to experiment towards greater conservation practices every year.
Read More
