News : Van Wey places 2nd in Photo Contest

Iowa Learning Farms has announced the winners of its inaugural Beauty of Conservation photo contest. A panel of judges selected the top four prize-winning images in adult and youth categories, and a People's Choice winner was selected through online social media voting in each category.

Liz Ripley, ILF conservation outreach specialist and coordinator of the contest, says participation in the contest exceeded expectations and provided a challenging assortment for the judges to consider. "We received 131 photos submitted by 56 photographers from all over Iowa and as far away as Florida," she says. "The variety, quality of the images, obvious careful consideration and imagination exhibited by the photographers was awesome."

Mary Swalla Holmes, a writer and photographer from Polk City, Iowa, contributed her professional expertise to the panel of judges. "There were so many wonderful images submitted, in both the adult and youth categories, capturing a wide range of conservation practices, that it was difficult to narrow it down to a few winners," she says. "Really, we all win when we see the beauty in conservation, in a field, in a stream or in a wildflower. The images reflected the relationships between humans, wildlife and the land in very artistic ways. Thanks to Iowa Learning Farms for this opportunity to see and share the beauty of conservation."

The winners in the adult category for those 18 and over include:

First. Ryan Heiniger, Burlington, Iowa, "Soybeans Planted Green Into Rye"

Second. Becky Van Wey, Vinton, Iowa, "No-till CC" (see photo below)

Third. John Schmidt, Ocheyedan, Iowa, "Trumpeter Swans Visit the Pond"

Fourth. Ed Kocal, Blue Grass, Iowa, "Stream Buffers Make a Difference!"

People's Choice. Colleen Rossiter, Westside, Iowa, "Pollinator Restoration at Sunset"

The winners in the youth category are:

First. Ian Spry, Ames, Iowa, "Great Blue"

Second. Johnathan Haspels, Little Rock, Iowa, "Cover Crop Planted at V3 Corn Stage"

Third. Franny Burke-Vens, Madrid, Iowa, "A Purple Coneflower"

Fourth. Ellyanna Haspels, Little Rock, Iowa, "Bee in a CRP Pollinator"

People's Choice. Annaliese Kamps, Ankeny, Iowa, "A Break in the Prairie"

"The educational goal of this contest was to encourage people to consider all aspects of conservation which surround them," Ripley says. "Receiving entries with images of people, machinery, crops, wildflowers, pollinators, landscapes, waterways and wildlife makes it clear that conservation cuts across all parts of our lives, and each person sees its beauty in their own way."