Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here Tour Visits Madison County
DES MOINES, Iowa (Oct. 6, 2020) – The Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here tour will visit Fred Martens’ farm in Madison County today. The stop, hosted by Heartland Co-op, will highlight his CREP wetland and the no-till and nutrient management practices at work on the family’s farm.
This event is the first opportunity for the Iowa agriculture community to meet Heartland Co-op’s new conservation agronomists. Michael Fritch and Ruth McCabe recently joined the Heartland Co-op team to help their member-owners overcome the hurdles inherent to adopting conservation practices and improving soil health.
“Throughout the Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here campaign, we’ve been talking about the importance of installing more conservation practices and making changes to the landscape to improve soil health and water quality. Proper nutrient management is another important component of our conservation efforts,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “These conservation agronomists will help farmers determine the right nutrient applications, the right rates, and the right time to apply them to balance their production and stewardship goals.”
Heartland Co-op is one of the first ag retailers in the state of Iowa to employ conservation agronomists as part of their field services staff.
“Heartland Co-op is committed to helping farmers produce and market profitably and we believe the addition of our conservation agronomists will bring resources and significant value towards helping our farmers achieve their stewardship goals,” said Thomas Fawcett, Precision Ag Field Manager at Heartland Co-op.
Conservation agronomists Fritch and McCabe are focused on using the TruTerra Data Engine to aid in the deployment of edge-of-field practices, such as saturated buffers and bioreactors. They will also help farmers improve their soil health by adopting the use of cover crops and conservation tillage.
“I have enjoyed working with Heartland Co-op over the years. Their agronomy services and nutrient programs have helped me increase our yields and improve our placement of nutrients,” said farmer Fred Martens. “I look forward to working with the new conservation agronomists and the TruTerra platform. One of my goals in farming is to help protect the Badger Creek watershed. By using no-till and a CREP wetland, we are doing all we can to improve our soil health and the water quality in our state.”
About the Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here Campaign
The Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here campaign, created by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) and Newsradio 1040 WHO, aims to raise awareness about the conservation work underway across Iowa, and encourages all Iowans to get personally involved in water quality activities.
The Big Show will visit locations throughout Iowa showcasing the people and practices that are having a positive and measurable impact on water quality. The conversations with farmers, landowners, business operators and conservation leaders will be broadcast Wednesdays on The Big Show airing 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on WHO and 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. on WMT.
The implementation of conservation practices isn’t limited to rural areas. Urban residents can do their part by keeping leaves, grass clippings and other yard debris out of the street and gutters and slowing runoff and recycling rainwater through rain barrels, rain gardens and swales. These practices act as a filter for oil, fertilizer and other pollutants to prevent them from running into the storm drains. Seeding pollinator habitats and properly disposing of paints, solvents and metals also have a positive impact on water quality.
Clean Water in Iowa Starts Here campaign partners include Agri-Drain, Hagie Manufacturing, Hands on Excavating, Heartland Co-op, Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Land Improvement Contractors of America, Montag Manufacturing, and The Nature Conservancy.
To learn more about the campaign and conservation practices that can be implemented, go to CleanWaterIowa.org/CleanWaterStartsHere.