An Annual Awards Banquet and Program is held in August to recognize landowners who have done outstanding work in soil conservation, windbreak establishment, and wildlife habitat development.
Iowa Soil Conservation Awards Program
The Iowa Soil Conservation Awards Program (ISCAP) encourages better land use programs and environmental control on the farm. The District enters Division 1, family-operated farms or owner-operated farms on which the owner-operator has established and maintained the most complete conservation program as determined by the land use program and soil conservation practices adopted.
Ron & Nancy Vos of Ireton were chosen as the Outstanding Conservation Farmers in 2022. Ron was also chosen as the Region 1 Iowa Soil Conservation Awards Program Winner. Ron & Nancy own and operate land in sections 30 & 35 in Center Township north of Ireton. They use a no-till corn-bean crop rotation, and seed a multi-species cover crop mix of radish, crimson clover, camelina, hairy vetch, and rye in the fall. They still maintain a grass headland along with a CRP waterway and filter strips, and terraces have been working on their highly erodible field since 1990. In the spring of 2022, a Bioreactor was installed at the home farm on the north side of HWY10. These practices compliment each other nicely to not only protect the farm but reduce soil erosion and nutrient loading to local waterbodies.
