Conservation Chat

This is a chat with Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, as a part of the Iowa Learning Farms monthly webinar series. We talk about water quality, conservation and Secretary Naig fields questions from folks who attended both on-line and in-person.

Farmers Wade Dooley and Nathan Anderson bring a joy and humility to their work on the land. Both men are striving to make their farms more resilient in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges. 

Adam Janke is an assistant professor and an Extension wildlife specialist at Iowa State University.  With research and outreach, Adam hopes to increase wildlife populations in agricultural landscapes in Iowa for generations to come.

Ben and Andy Johnson farm in northeast Iowa where conservation is at the heart of their production. While they appreciate the soil and water quality benefits of the different practices, the brothers say they do conservation because it saves them time.

As Prairie Rivers of Iowa’s Watershed Program Coordinator, David Stein’s job (and passion) is to help establish “corridors” of habitats throughout central Iowa with a goal of increasing pollinators, wildlife, improving water quality and soil health.

Daniel Robison is Iowa State University’s new dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Robison comes to ISU from West Virginia University and has degrees in forestry, silviculture and forest influences and forest entomology.

Marty Adkins spent decades with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service working to leave Iowa’s natural resources in better shape than when he started. He did this by listening and connecting with all the major conservation stakeholder groups. 

Matt Russell is the Executive Director of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light and a fifth generation Iowa farmer.  Matt is traveling around Iowa having conversations with farmers about faith and climate change.

Ingrid Gronstal Anderson is the new Water Program Director for the Iowa Environmental Council. Jennifer Terry is the Executive Director. Both Ingrid and Jenn are passionate about the state and dedicated to restoring Iowa’s waters so all can enjoy them.

Pat Boddy is a Renaissance woman: an agricultural engineer, water resources expert, accomplished harpist and respected community leader. Pat is driven by a love of science and nature, particularly water and the impact of climate change on our world.

Ingrid Gronstal Anderson, environmental lawyer, chats with Jacqueline Comito, anthropologist and director of the Iowa Learning Farms, about identity issues and hope for the future.

Kelsey Fleming, Pheasants Forever's Senior Farm Bill Wildlife Biologist, and Brian Hickman, IDNR's Private Lands Coordinator for the Wildlife Bureau, chat about the opportunities and challenges as they work to increase wildlife habitat on private lands.

Matt Helmers, director of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, and Jamie Benning, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Water Quality Program Manager, discuss the research, opportunities and challenges facing the state as they work to improve Iowa's water quality.

Newly elected Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig discusses his vision for scaling up Iowa’s Nutrient Strategy during his first full term in office.

Researchers Ann Staudt and Dr. Tom Kaspar chat about earthworms and cover crops and their connection to soil health and water quality.

Ben Johnson purchased his first farm in northeast Iowa with his brother Andy when he was a sophomore at Iowa State University and has been farming his own land for 20 years. Conservation saves him one of his most valued resources on the farm: time.

Sean McMahon is the Executive Director for the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance. With 20+ years of experience in conservation and agriculture, Sean works with key partners to champion farmer engagement and adoption of practices that improve water quality. 

Clare Lindahl was recently selected as the chief executive officer for the Soil and Water Conservation Society—the first woman ever to lead this national organization. Prior to this, Clare was the Executive Director for Conservation Districts of Iowa.

Chris Foss and his daughter Kristi Heffelmeier farm together in Northeast Iowa. The family is dedicated to improving the soil health of their land and putting in practices that will improve the local creek.

Shane Wulf and Joshua Balk chat about their creative approaches to watershed improvement projects in their jobs as watershed coordinators for Black Hawk County Soil and Water Conservation District in northeast Iowa.

Eileen Kladivko is a professor of agronomy at Purdue University in Indiana and a founding member of the Midwest Cover Crops Council. Her specific research areas have included tile drainage, cover crops and earthworms. 

Dr. Bob Hartzler is an ISU agronomy professor and an extension weed specialist. After years of removing milkweed from agricultural fields, he is encouraging its re-establishment in strategic locations to help stop monarch butterfly decline as a part of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium.

Sharon Krause is the owner and operator of Dalla Terra Ranch, a grass fed organic lamb operation in Madison County, Iowa. A native Iowan, Sharon is passionate about lambs, healthy lands and her local community.

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Adam Janke, Assistant Professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist at Iowa State University. His focus is on strengthening wildlife conservation in working landscapes in Iowa.

This episode features a chat with Nathan Anderson, a young Iowa farmer who is passionate about minimizing the off-farm ecological impact of his farming practices so that future generations of his family can continue to farm.

This episode features a chat with Dr. Amy Kaleita of Iowa State University about the relationship between big data, precision technology, soil, water quality and conservation in Iowa.

This episode features a chat with Dr. Lisa Schulte Moore of Iowa State University about the relationship between birds, prairies, trees, fire, water quality and conservation in Iowa.

Enjoy a chat with Iowa's 2016 Conservation Woman of the Year, farmer Sue Kuennen Massman, on her 160 acre farm in NE Iowa. Passionate about conservation, Sue lends her voice and experience to other women landowners.

Dr. Emily Heaton of Iowa State University and Ingrid Gronstal Anderson of the University of Iowa discuss the U of I's goal of using giant miscanthus as a bioenergy crop.

Molly Hanson is the new Executive Director for the non-profit river advocacy group, Iowa Rivers Revival. A native Iowan, Molly is passionate about conservation and clean, free-flowing rivers.  

Dr. Tom Isenhart, Iowa State University professor, chats water ecology and practices that can be implemented to improve stream health and water quality.

A conservation advocate, Rick Juchems farms in northeast Iowa and has implemented numerous conservation practices including cover crops. His daughter Liz is following in his footsteps -- not in farming, but in conservation education and outreach.

Seth Watkins farms his family heritage farm in southwest Iowa. He has a 600-head cow-calf enterprise and a whole farm approach to conservation: rotational grazing, wetlands, late season calving, and row crops integrated with prairie strips and cover crops.

Dr. Matt Helmers is a professor in the Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department at Iowa State University. As one of the writers of Iowa's Nutrient Reduction Strategy, Helmers discusses what it will take to implement this strategy in the state.

Laura Krouse operates Abbe Hills Farm, a 72 acre farming operation near Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where she raises a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, alfalfa, oats, and other small grains. Join host Jacqueline Comito as she chats with Laura about 1 New Thing for Water campaign, thoughts on motivating others to do their part as we collectively strive towards cleaner water and the reduced soil + nutrient export, the ever-growing need to work with women landowners on conservation issues.

Paul and Nancy Ackley have been farming together for 40 years and are adopting multiple conservation practices and restoring the health of their farm. I caught up with Paul and Nancy at the Practical Farmers of Iowa’s annual conference in January 2016. There is a little bit of background noise to the recording.

In this latest episode of the Conservation Chat, Jacqueline Comito visits with Dr. John Lawrence, Associate Dean of Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Director for Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension. Lawrence discusses his upbringing on a farm in southwest Iowa, his journey to working in Extension, and the role Iowa State University Extension and Outreach plays in developing and implementing the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

Sally Hollis of Lanehaven Farms is passionate about helping their eastern Iowa farm improve and grow. Join us as we chat about cover crops, conservation, stewardship and coopertition in their farming operation that includes corn, soybean, seed corn, cover crop, and hogs.

This episode features a chat with Dr. Angie Carter, sociology fellow at Augustana College, on her research with women farm landowners in Iowa.

I Chat with Dr. Rick Cruse, Professor of Agronomy at Iowa State University and Director of the Iowa Water Center, on his work to more accurately estimate soil erosion in Iowa. According to Dr. Cruse, our present methods of estimating soil erosion are badly flawed and may be missing between 20-90% of the erosion in the state. 

In this podcast, I chat with beginning farmer Wendy Johnson who moved back to Iowa from L.A. to farm with her parents in Northeast Iowa raising corn, soybeans, hay and sheep. She and her husband have started their own enterprise, Joia Food Farm.

In this podcast, I speak to Mark Licht about integrating conservation practices in profitable and sustainable ways.

In this podcast, I chat with Donna Buell, who is an environmental activist, attorney and owner of a 300-acre farm near Holstein in northwest Iowa. With her young tenants, she is transitioning the farm to organic.

In this podcast, I chat with Sarah Carlson, Midwest Cover Crop Research Coordinator and Practical Farmers of Iowa agronomist, about cover crops and the generational transitions happening on Iowa's farmland.

In this podcast, ILF Assistant Manager, Ann Staudt, chats with Dr. Jacqueline Comito, a 2015 recipient of the Environmental Law Institute's National Wetlands Award in Outreach and Education, about her work in Iowa.

In this podcast, I chat with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach program manager Jamie Benning about Iowa's Nutrient Reduction Strategy and the approach ISUEO is taking to improving water quality in Iowa.

In this podcast, I chat with plant physiologist and cover crop expert, Dr. Tom Kaspar who has been researching cover crops in Iowa for over 25 years at the USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa.

In this podcast, I chat with environmental leader and innovator Rob Stout, a farmer from southeast Iowa. For 30 years, Stout's farm has been an early adopter of emerging conservation management.

In this podcast, I chat with Dr. Mark Rasmussen, Director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture about foraging, Aldo Leopold's unique childhood and the importance of the Leopold Center to agriculture.

In this podcast, I chat with farmer Tim Smith about using whole farm approach to soil health and water quality improvements, from cover crops to bioreactors. Smith gives provocative insight into farmer decision making and the future of Iowa agriculture.

In this podcast, I chat with farmer Steve McGrew about using cover crops to help meet the goals in Iowa's Nutrient Reduction Strategy. McGrew gives thoughtful insight into farmer decision making in regards to conservation and crop production.