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…

This piece is reprinted with permission from Beth Hoffman, author of Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America. Find Beth’s blog, In The Dirt, here. Somewhere around the turn of the new year I sent out an email that I was looking for projects.  I wrote to a few people…

“What sounds did you used to hear on the farm that you no longer hear?” a friend asked us recently. Climate Land Leaders quickly chimed in with answers that produced reveries of the farms of our childhoods. Here is a smattering of their responses. Meadowlarks in the pasture calling their mate. Mourning doves in the grove Pheasants and quail calling from the…

Meg Nielsen and her husband Glenn (Southern MN) recently transitioned 50 acres of formerly cropped fields into permanent cover and have been readying infrastructure to support grazing livestock on the land this year. From the reduction in energy-intensive corn and soybean production to the re-establishment of permanent root systems to the soil health benefits from…

Climate Land Leaders have a new and exciting Strategic Plan! Thirty-plus Climate Land Leaders generously shared input for the development of the Plan. The Strategic Planning Committee of Jackie Armstrong, Carol Bouska, Theresa Keaveny, Joe Luetmer, Kate Moos, Meg Nielsen, Julie Ristau and Jane Shey worked with staffers Sarah Hunt and Teresa Opheim to draft…

A final take on our query, if you had just minutes to talk about climate change and agriculture, what are 5 points you’d want to convey to your audience, from Climate Land Leader Lee Tesdell of Tesdell Century Farm in Polk County, IA. Lee is a Soil and Water Conservation District commissioner and laser-focused on…

Here’s another Climate Land Leader’s take on the prompt, if you had just minutes to talk about climate change and agriculture, what are 5 points you’d want to convey? Maggie McQuown and her husband Steve Turman steward 170 acres of farmland in southwest Iowa, where they continue to implement a variety of natural and working…

Last Saturday at the Practical Farmers of Iowa conference, Wendy Johnson, a Climate Land Leader and co-owner of Joia Food Farm, gave a “lightning round” talk on “Five Things to Know About Agriculture and Climate Change Plus a Bonus One.” Here’s what Wendy wants you to know: 1. Fossil fuel reduction is necessary to mitigate…