Peoples Company is proud to support the efforts of landowners, operators, and local organizations bringing new conservation practices onto the working landscape. And whenever possible, we want to help highlight these efforts for others to learn from.

On Saturday, June 18, a field day was held and open to the public on the Hunt Farm in Hardin County, Iowa. The Hunt Farm is a unique property located directly west of Eldora, Iowa. Beaver Creek runs through the property, creating a diverse landscape of certified wetlands, timber, pollinator habitat, pasture, and row crop acres. Field day attendees saw live installation construction of two bioreactors and got a close-up look at multiple conservation practices used on the Hunt Farm to improve water quality.

The Hunt Farm is owned by Kathleen Hunt, an out-of-state landowner, and is farmed by local operator, Jacob Bolson. Kathleen and Jacob connected through Practical Farmers of Iowa Find a Farmer, an online matching program created to connect non-farming landowners and potential tenants. A Peoples Company Land Manager was hired to help with the boots-on-the-ground work that the landowner could not easily do herself living out of state.

Advocating for plant and wildlife diversity on the farm is important to Kathleen, as well as addressing the farm’s impact on the larger watershed. With thoughtful conversation and collaboration, a broader plan was developed for the Hunt Farm that incorporates several conservation tools and funding sources. Using personal and public funding sources has helped Kathleen and Jacob maximize production on the most productive acres while also protecting the most environmentally sensitive acres.

The two bioreactors were funded by a grant awarded to Southfork Watershed Alliance from the Iowa Water Quality Initiative, a division of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.