North Central Iowa Farmer Partners

Conservation has been a key part of Zachary Smith’s operation since he began farming 80 acres with his dad in 2010. Having expanded to 1,200 acres over the past several years, he sees the benefits of conservation on both soil quality and efficiency on his farm. In addition to management practices seen across the state such as strip-till and cover crops, Zack pushes towards further opportunities in agriculture. This is seen in his plots testing wide row gap corn, as well as his innovative Stock Cropper system.

Matt and Nancy live in Kossuth County with their three children and farm corn and soybeans as well as raise corn and soybeans for seed. Matt grew up in Kossuth County and started farming in 1999, raising cattle and custom baling. He then transitioned to full-time farming in 2001 after graduating from Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Business. Nancy, who grew up in Wisconsin, completed her bachelor's degree in Agricultural Education and Environmental Science in 2004 from Iowa State University and her master’s degree in Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2006. She then joined Matt on the farm in Iowa and is currently obtaining her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota.

Wendy and her husband John started Jóia Food Farm where they farm holistically and implement new conservation ideas. In addition, Wendy co-manages the family’s farm, Center View Farms Co, with her father. She originally farmed organic row crops but decided to rotate the land to pasture for soil health and water quality and drainage concerns. Wendy has also helped to expand conservation practices on her family’s farm, a much larger traditional row-crop farm, to become more sustainable and regenerative by implementing 100% no-till, adding cover crops, and reducing costly inputs.

Brothers Randy, Steve and Dana Norby grew up helping on their parent’s farm in Osage, which was settled in 1868. Over the past two decades, the Norbys have executed a variety of conservation practices. They first began no-till soybeans in 1992, strip-till corn in 2002, and no-till corn and cover crops in 2012. They also uses buffer strips and CRP borders to help with erosion control, nutrient placement, cost reduction, water permeability and retention, soil tilth, and labor reduction on the farm.

ILF farmer partner Robert Lynch (center) has been farming for 36 years on land that has been in his family for over 100 years. He grows corn and soybeans using no-till on his soybeans into standing corn stalks and strip-tills corn on the soybean stubble and where he is growing corn on corn. He was a ridge-tilller for 18 years and began strip-tilling three years ago. He has also implemented grassed waterways on his land.

ILF farmer partner Jon Gisleson runs a century farm in rural Floyd, Iowa, growing corn and soybeans. He has been a no-tiller/strip-tiller for over 20 years and is proud of it. But it wasn’t an easy transition

The 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.

Jim 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.

Seven generations have farmed in Floyd County, and Ben Johnson and Andy Johnson hope their sons will continue this legacy. Together they farm and share equipment, while their father, who began no-tilling his beans in the '90s, still has his own operation down the road. Ben, who returned to the farm first, immediately ran with his father’s use of no-till, while also experimenting with practices to achieve greater levels of soil health and water quality.

Rick Juchems farms in northeast Butler County and northwest Bremer County producing corn and soybeans with cover crops. He also finishes hogs. A long-time activist for conservation, Rick has served as president of Conservation Districts of Iowa and has been involved with the organization for some time.