Conservation practices lacking

To the editor:

Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Hill must not 'travel the (same) state” I do, if everywhere he sees evidence of 'conservation progress” in Iowa's water quality ('Water efforts take collaboration, time” April 11).

When I'm traveling Iowa's highways, I see precious little conservation practice. What I see is more land-clearing, complete elimination of windbreaks and fencerows, more tiling, planting through waterways (and grading of the inevitable washouts), the straightening of creeks, and planting right up to stream banks.

Hill says Iowa farmers 'voluntarily spend tens of millions of dollars out of their own pockets each year to do right by the land ...” Is that on tiling and land-clearing? Because a majority of those same farmers, by their own admittance (www.iowapolicyproject.org/2014Research/140717-nutrient.html), spend nothing on soil and water conservation.

So, yes, I agree with Hill, Iowans do 'deserve the whole story” on what's going on with our industrialized agriculture and water quality. Go out and take a good look. Groucho Marx famously asked, 'Who are you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes?” Iowans will not be fooled by Farm Bureau propaganda on water quality.

Jim Walters

Iowa City