Our commitment to water quality

Concerning all the press coverage received by the lawsuit filed by the Des Moines Water Works, I want your readers to know that I and many other farmers have been addressing this issue for four generations.

My grandfather's farm, which my son and I are now farming, had terraces, waterways and contour strips built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) 85 years ago. Since that time we have reshaped and rebuilt many of those conservation practices to accommodate bigger equipment and technology. This equipment and technology have allowed us to plant corn and soybeans using no-till and minimum-till to prevent erosion of the soil nutrients which could pollute neighboring waters.

Our fields are grid-sampled about every four years. This data allows us to apply balanced fertilizer amounts which reach our established goals. Using GPS and auto guide, we can now apply chemicals and fertilizer with greater accuracy and high efficiency.

Buffer strips 60 feet wide or more are installed along all three streams and drainage ditches using the CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) through the USDA.

After the Flood of '93 inundated 120 acres, we chose to sell the cropping rights to our Iowa River bottom ground subject to flooding to the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It became part of the Iowa River Corridor Project consisting of 10,100 acres on both sides of the river from the Meskwaki Settlement to the Coralville Reservoir. These acres are managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for wildlife and sediment control.

We are now working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to plant cover crops on 150 acres. This is our second year in the project; we are now anxiously awaiting the outcome. A positive outcome will be saved nutrients, increased organic matter and improved soil health.

Koszta Farm Corporation's motto is: Farming with solutions to stop pollution. I want to acknowledge the City of Cedar Rapids and Mayor Ron Corbett for taking a proactive approach in helping farmers in the Cedar River watershed deal with farm chemical and nutrient pollution. We are all in this together.

' Larry Beyer, president of, Koszta Farm Corp., is a fourth-generation farmer on a century farm for 47 years. Comments:beyer@netins.net