Farmers aim to protect land and waterways

Since 2000, agriculture has gone from a $12 billion to $30 billion industry in Iowa.

The money moves throughout the economy as farmers buy tractors and other equipment; buy seed, fertilizers and other input products; get bank loans; buy insurance; buy gasoline; hire farm help; pay for tiling and terracing building; and make farm improvements.

The people they give their money to spend it on other products in the community, so all of Iowa benefits.

That doesn't cover the number of products, including food, for people and animals, construction products, gasoline and personal products made from crops grown in Iowa.

Farmers have a vested interest in protecting land and waterways.

They spend money and take time to save topsoil by strip farming, planting one crop in between another crop to slow down runoff and adding nutrients into the soil.

They use no-till techniques leaving plant residue on the ground to hold the soil in place and reduce water runoff over the winter.

They are planting cover crops between the crop rows to hold the soil and add nutrients to the soil. They add fertilizers to help maintain the quality of the topsoil. They spend money to build terraces on hills to slow down water runoff.

They put erodible land into conservation reserve programs to protect it and save topsoil, and they build wildlife habitat for pheasants and other wildlife and plant food plots for wild animals.

Farmers are stewards of the land and they care about what happens to it.

Janet Kvach

Hiawatha