Government : Benton Soil & Water Conservation Awards presented

The Benton Soil & Water Conservation District Commissioners are proud to participate in the Iowa Conservation Program each year. This program recognizes outstanding producers who incorporate various and innovative conserving practices in their farming operations. The Benton SWCD also is happy to select a District winner for the Izaak Walton Windbreak Award Program each year. The Commissioners develop a group of nominees, tour the county viewing their farms in June, and make their winning selections. Awards were presented to the winners at the Cover Crop Field Day at Rodger’s Park on August 25. Izaak Walton Windbreak Award Winner - Jerry Sonka, Sr. Jerry Sonka, Jr. worked with our technical staff in 1996 to design a curving windbreak around his home. A plan was devised including two rows of Arborvitae and a row of Spruce trees. Through the years, he has taken exceptional care of those trees, and they now provide energy conservation, habitat for songbirds, and beauty to his farmstead. This year the Benton SWCD Commissioners chose it as the District winner of the Izaak Walton Windbreak Award. Iowa Conservation Award Program – Owner-Operated Division - Edwin Wendel Edwin Wendel farms in Florence and St. Clair Townships. Mr. Wendel uses a corn/bean rotation, with some areas having a rotation with hay. Soil losses are controlled on this farm using reduced tillage practices, contouring and cross-slope row patterns. He has also steadily been maintaining and completing new grassed waterways to safely control runoff from the fields. Iowa Conservation Award Program – Landlord/Tenant Division - Russ & Joan Lindberg Russ and Joan Lindberg farm in Eden and Eldorado Townships. They are very concerned about soil loss damage and Russ began using no till and strip till methods to protect the soil many years ago. They were very happy to find a farm operator in Dean Haerther who would take protecting their soil as seriously as they did. They all work as a good team implementing reduced tillage practices, maintaining and establishing grassed waterways on the farms