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In addition to the many organizations working issues related to nutrient management and hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, there are a number of innovative farmers and ranchers who have adopted sustainable practices with an array of natural services and economic benefits including a direct benefit to water quality and watershed health and a reduction in nutrient loss from agricultural land.
The following case studies highlight some of these individuals and put face on what’s possible on the landscape that benefits farmers, the Mississippi River and the Gulf.
Dick and Sharon Thompson, Boone County, Iowa
Dick and Sharon Thompson of Boone were using on-farm research and looking for ways to use environmentally sound farming practices long before anyone began using the term sustainable agriculture.
The Thompsons operate a 300-acre diverse crop and livestock farm, raising beef cattle and hogs. They farmed conventionally for 10 years and in 1968 began to test alternative methods to reduce their use of chemicals and antibiotics. They have been recognized nationally for their five-year rotation that includes corn, soybeans, oats and hay, and rye cover crops on a ridge-till system. They began to collaborate with the Rodale Institute in 1984, receiving additional support from the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture. They keep meticulous records and publish a 200-page annual report with findings of their on-farm experiments.
"The Thompsons manage their farm as an ecosystem, with each part working together creating a dynamic and efficient whole," said Robert Karp, former director of Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), an organization the Thompsons helped found in 1985. "Greatly reducing synthetic inputs like pesticides and chemical fertilizer, livestock hormones and antibiotics, they have astounded many agriculturists with their high yields, rich soils and healthy livestock."
Karp said that while some of their practices such as five-year rotations and manure applications are familiar, others such as ridge-tillage, recycling biosolids and raising natural pork are innovative. Records show that they have doubled soil organic matter, cut soil loss by more than half, and maintained an average net income of $119 per acre since 1988, mostly from increased crop and residue income. During the past four years they have averaged $172 per acre net income, which does not include government payments and premiums.
Added on Dec. 5, 2006
