Conservation

tour listens
to landowners
By KATHLEEN CHESTER
I
OWA Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov.
Kim Reynolds traveled to the Lucas
County farm of Kevin and Lori Luedtke
on May 1 as part of Soil and Water Conserva-
tion Week activities. They heard rsthand
from farmers and landowners in that part
of southern Iowa who put conservation
practices on the land through the Rathbun
Land and Water Alliances Protect Rathbun
Lake Project.
Branstad said he and Reynolds wanted
to go directly to landowners to discuss
conservation issues because farmers un-
derstand better than anyone the need to
protect the land for future generations.
The alliances project is one of the new
and exciting conservation efforts taking
place across the state, he said, thanking
landowners for their work to manage soil
and protect water resources.
Landowners invited to speak to the gov-
ernor have earned recognition as Rathbun
Lake Protectors be cause of their exem-
plary actions to care for the land in the
354,000-acre Rathbun Lake Watershed.
Landowner speakers included Appanoose
County RLP, Chuck Moore; Clarke County
RLP, Jim Sullivan; Decatur County RLP, Dick
Hines; Wayne County RLP, Jim Cory; and
Lucas County Soil and Water Conservation
District Commissioner and RLWA board
member, Kevin Luedtke.
As landowners shared specics about
conservation practices on their individual
farms, a common theme emerged: the im-
portance of technical assistance provided
by eld staff and the 75% cost share they
received through the Protect Rathbun
Lake Project, as owners of priority land.
Cost share important
Velvet Buckingham, environmental
specialist and PRLP coordinator for the
Iowa Department of Agriculture and
Land Stewardships Department of Soil
Conservation, said due to the large size
of the watershed, it was broken into 61
manageable units called subwatersheds.
In each subwatershed, GIS modeling
is used to determine which land has
greatest potential to deliver contaminants
to Rathbun Lake, and we give that land
priority treatment, she said. The Protect
Rathbun Lake Project is currently working
with landowners in 39 of the 61 subwater-
sheds, and more than 10,000 acres a
third of the project goal of 30,000 priority
acres have been treated.
Luedtke, as a SWCD commissioner, sees
nine out of 10 applications denied in Lucas
County alone because there simply isnt
enough money to cover all the conserva-
tion practices farmers want to install. Id
rather do away with the direct payments
farmers receive from USDAs farm program
and funnel those dollars into conservation
cost-share programs, he said.
If more money was available for addi-
tional staff and cost sharing, conservation
practices would increase dramatically,
said Luedtke. If the money was redirected
for cost share, once its spent on saving
the land, the land is there for years to
come. Cost share helps both the farm and
the public because farmers are matching
dollar for dollar. The 75% cost share avail-
able through the project helps. Many times
the cost of installing practices is so expen-
sive even a 50% cost share isnt enough for
a landowner to afford.
Jim Sullivan is 100% in favor of federal
crop insurance being tied to conservation
compliance. Im a rm believer if you take
the money, then you need to take care of
GATHERED: Conservation practices on the Kevin and Lori Luedtke farm in Lucas
County can be seen in the background, where Gov. Terry Branstad visited during Soil
and Water Conservation Week. From left are Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
Jay Johnson; RRWA CEO and RLWA President John Glenn; Jim and Betty Sullivan,
Clarke County Protectors; Dick and Connie Hines, Decatur County Protectors;
IDALS-DSC Director Jim Gillespie; Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds; Kevin Reynolds, Decatur
County SWCD conservationist; Branstad; Jim and Barb Cory, Wayne County
Protectors; Chuck Moore, Appanoose County Protector; Jerry Neppl, IDALS
conservationist; and Lori and Kevin Luedtke, Lucas County farm hosts.
Key Points
Soil and Water Conservation Week was
observed April 29 to May 5 in Iowa.
Iowa ofcials toured Rathbun Lake
Watershed to learn about conservation.
Landowners who are Rathbun Lake
Protectors explained their practices.
the land, he said. Sullivan speaks passion-
ately about conservation and the actions
he and wife Betty have taken to save the
land since purchasing their rst farm. We
bought it in spring of 1986 and installed our
rst terraces that fall and have been trying
to do our best ever since, he added.
Array of soil-saving tools
The Sullivans have installed every type of
soil-saving practice including terraces, wa-
terways, tiling, no-till, lter strips and many
grade stabilization structures. Jim Sullivan
and farmers, who own land adjacent to his,
work together on some projects because
when soil is carried off a farm by erosion, it
doesnt stop at property lines.
Buckingham told Branstad that about
500 Rathbun Lake Watershed land-
owners have accomplished impressive
gures since the Protect Rathbun Lake
Project began in 2004. More than 1 million
feet of terraces and nearly 450 structures,
including sediment basins and grade stabi-
lization structures, have been installed by
landowners. These practices contribute
to an annual delivery reduction of 38,000
tons of sediment and 166,000 pounds of
phosphorus to Rathbun Lake, she said.
Rathbun Regional Water Association
CEO and RLWA president, John Glenn,
said the alliances project has received -
nancial support of more than $22 million
from more than a dozen agencies. Of that
amount, Rathbun Lake Watershed land-
owners have contributed close to $3 mil-
lion of their own money through installing
best management practices, he noted.
Branstad thanked the landowners for
taking time to talk about their operations,
their efforts and the nancial contribu-
tions made to save soil and protect water.
Also attending the eld event were
Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jay
Johnson, NRCS State Conservationist Rich
Sims, IDALS-DSC Director Jim Gillespie and
Iowa DNR Deputy Director Chuck Gipp.
The Rathbun Lake Protector award is
given annually. Each soil and water con-
servation district in the six Rathbun Lake
Watershed counties of Appanoose, Clarke,
Decatur, Monroe, Lucas and Wayne have
the opportunity to nominate landowners
whose past, present and planned conser-
vation practices protect Rathbun Lake.
Chester writes for RLWA.
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Conservation
44 www.FarmProgress.com June 2012 Wallaces Farmer