We’ve collected a lot of photos over our Initiative’s first three years – Climate Land Leaders hot and sweaty planting trees, exploring the diversity of a prairie, nervously speaking at events, reflecting with each other on their conservation progress. Here are five that always make us smile. First: Climate Land Leaders bring wide and rich…

Climate Land Leader Jane Shey of Algona, IA was profiled in Iowa Interfaith Power & Light’s “Faithful Farmer” series. Reprinted with permission. What do you grow? We rent our land primarily to farmers who produce corn and soybeans. We also have some hay ground and 400 acres in the Conservation Reserve and Wetland Reserve Program.…

With an eye toward climate resiliency and new markets, Climate Land Leaders Naima Dhore and Wendy Johnson are diversifying their farming operations with small grains. For Naima, millet represents a return to a cultural food that is suited to grow in a changing Minnesota climate. For Wendy, Kernza holds great potential as a perennial crop…

This is a guest blog post from Lina “Mama Tshutshu” Nyaronge, Community Connector at Sharing Our Roots and Climate Land Leader. It is the final in a three-part series from Mama Tshutshu sharing perspectives on climate change, agriculture and community. In my Kenyan culture we have what we call a practice of unity. Unity is…

This is a guest blog post from Lina “Mama Tshutshu” Nyaronge, Community Connector at Sharing Our Roots and Climate Land Leader. It is the second in a three-part series from Mama Tshutshu sharing perspectives on climate change, agriculture and community. In my hometown of Kisii, Kenya, everyone has a backyard with vegetables – a kitchen…

This is a guest blog post from Lina “Mama Tshutshu” Nyaronge, Community Connector at Sharing Our Roots and Climate Land Leader. It is the first in a three-part series from Mama Tshutshu sharing perspectives on climate change, agriculture and community. At last, summer is here! As I write from my home in Northfield, we are…

Mary Swander’s new play, “Squatters on Red Earth” premieres this weekend—and Climate Land Leaders will be there to experience this performance that includes a tale of cooperation and also one of land theft. The play opens June 9, 8 pm at the Amana Performing Arts Center, Amana, Iowa, and June 10 at 2 and 7…

Climate Land Leader Meg Nielsen, who serves as a deacon in the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), wrote the following Care for Creation devotional in a recent synod newsletter. Thank you for sharing, Meg!

Much of the Midwest’s Corn Belt is productive only because of an underground network of drainage tubes known as tile. That tiling made lucrative row cropping possible but produces water quality issues like excess nitrates and other environmental problems. As Wendy Johnson has discovered, the tiling system is a challenge for establishing silvopasture, one of…

The Bouska sisters were recently honored as Winneshiek County Pheasants Forever Chapter Habitat Steward of the Year — congratulations! An equal honor, their conservation partner Brian Sauer with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has dubbed them “Team Habitat.” In his remarks at the award presentation, Brian shared: “This year we are honoring the Bouska…