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Mar 01, 2019
The American Soybean Association (ASA) congratulates the following regional winners of the 2019 Conservation Legacy Awards.
Each winner was recognized at the ASA Awards Banquet on March 1, 2019, at Commodity Classic in Orlando, Fla. During the banquet, Rob Stout was announced as the national winner. The Conservation Legacy Awards program showcases the farm management practices of U.S. soybean producers that are both environmentally friendly and profitable.
A national selection committee, composed of soybean farmers, conservationists, agronomists and natural resource professionals, evaluated nominations based on each farmer’s environmental and economic program. The achievements of these farmers serve as a positive example for other farmers and help produce a more sustainable U.S. soybean crop. This program is sponsored by ASA, BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Corn & Soybean Digest, the United Soybean Board/Soybean Checkoff and Valent US.
Rob Stout’s grandfather bought a 210-acre farm in Iowa in 1926, and it has now grown to 1,100 acres of corn and soybeans, operated by Stout, his wife Jean, and her son Alex Zimmerman. The farm also has more than 9,000 pigs a year in a finishing operation, with the manure nutrients used to feed the corn crop.
“I’m passionate about conservation,” Stout says. “And with a successor coming along, I want to make sure that I can make these practices work economically so that things are set up to make this operation sustainable well into the future.”
Stout uses a wide range of conservation practices on his farm, including the use of a bioreactor, an edge-of-field practice that scrubs nutrients from tile drainage water before it leaves the farm. Through use of the bioreactor, Stout has observed a 70 percent reduction in nitrate when comparing water coming in from his tile lines to the water exiting the bioreactor. Read more about the practices Stout is using on his farm here.
Dan Gillespie follows a simple philosophy on his farm in Northeast, Nebraska: it all starts with the soil. Gillespie grows 412 acres of corn and soybeans in the Battle Creek watershed in Nebraska. The farm has been in his family since the 1920s. The soils, mostly Nora Crofton silty clay loams, on 6 to 11 percent slopes are highly erodible. Through the use of practices like no-till and cover crops, he has significantly reduced erosion on his farm and improved his soil health.
Through the years, Gillespie has been willing to spread the message about conservation and share his experiences. He has been “Dan the Tree Man” in his hometown, speaking about conservation while offering a hands-on lesson to elementary students in how to plant tree seeds. He also works with farmers as a no-till specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and has given speeches and demonstrations at many conferences and gatherings.
Gillespie explains that there are many new technologies available to farmers now to help them improve conservation on their farm, and he is proud to be part of a group of people who are trying new technology and always working to improve their conservation practices. Click here to read more about Gillespie’s operation.
Rick Clark represents the fifth generation of his family to farm in Indiana. He farms with his father, Richard, and nephew, Aaron. They have a diverse mix of crops as well as cattle on approximately 7,000 acres of land in west-central Indiana and east-central Illinois.
Through the years, the Clark family developed a reputation for its stewardship, and that reputation was enhanced as the operation adopted 100 percent no-till farming beginning in 2009 and 100 percent cover crops since 2013. The farm integrates wheat an alfalfa along with a corn and soybean rotation to improve biodiversity.
From there, Rick Clark began to incorporate more cover crop blends, advanced nutrient management, and techniques to build soil health, all evaluated with a focus on data collection and analysis to see what works in the system. Read more about Clark’s operation here.
Fred Sipes grew up in Meade County and developed an appreciation for the land as he worked for his family and other area farmers. But, when he went on his own following graduation from high school in 1994, his commitment to conservation went to a higher level, as he became a member of the board of supervisors for the Meade County Conservation District.
“I worked with the conservation district and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to incorporate conservation practices on my farm,” Sipes says. “I also stepped into a leadership role, encouraging other farmers in my area to do the same.”
Sipes began farming with a burley tobacco operation, but has since expanded to add soybeans, corn, wheat, hay, and cattle on 2,000 acres in the county. As he added land to the operation, he looked for new ways to protect soil and water. In addition to grassed waterways, he incorporates buffers along the edges of many of his crop fields, where native plants slow surface water and filter it before it enters streams; the area also provides wildlife habitat. More information about the conservation practices Fred Sipes uses on his farm are available here.
Visit the “Awards” section of the ASA website to learn more about the Conservation Legacy Awards and watch videos about the regional winners' operations. Tell us your conservation story and share your thoughts about this award on social media by using #ConservationLegacy, #Sustainability, and #ModernAg.
