Liberty is at the heart of the American experiment: that fundamental concept that says the will of the majority should not supersede the rights of individuals. Emerging from this pillar however is a fundamental question: to what extent can one actor infringe on the rights of another? This question is central to private land stewardship....
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In January 1921 George Washington Carver traveled from Tuskegee, Alabama, across the Jim Crow south and into the segregated nation’s capital. He was there to extol the value of southern farmers’ peanuts as the House Ways and Means Committee considered tariffs on imports. Crowd-pleasing presentations like the one he gave that day, and on many more days all across the south, earned Carver the moniker “The Peanut Man.”
Although this caricature of Carver persists today in children’s book and the cultural lore around this unique life, it misses the deeper, nobler point of Carver’s work. That’s because, to Carver, the peanut wasn’t just some curious media for his experimentation or a vehicle to a profitable career. Rather, to Carver, the nitrogen-fixing properties of the peanut was life-support for impoverished soils of southern farms and the protein-rich nutritional profile of the peanut was nourishment for bodies of Black farmers he sought throughout his life to serve.
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A 2021 study by Iowa State University scholars entitled “Developing farmer typologies to inform conservation outreach in agricultural landscapes” groups farmers into four typologies or personalities depending on their approach to conservation. Conservationists “are highly interested in innovative conservation approaches, and have strong noneconomic conservation motivations.” Productivists are “highly focused on yield and profit [and] most concerned about potential negative impacts of farm policy and the economics of commodity production.” Traditionalists tend to stick “to familial traditions passed down through the generations rather than trying new conservation ideas.” And lastly, Deliberative, as the name implies tend to “deliberate for some time before completely adopting a new idea,” and have “some uncertainty or ambivalence about conservation.”
Cover crops are a widely recognized conservation practice that protect soil, water, and economic resources on the farm. Cover crops like cereal rye or hairy vetch are planted in addition to a cash crop, like corn or soybeans, to provide living roots that absorb and protect soil nutrients.
If I were to have a conversation with each of these four types of farmers – Conservationist, Productivist, Traditionalist and Deliberative – about cover crops, here’s the approach I would take...
Windbreak School is coming to Buena Vista County - Friday, February 3, from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.!
This indoor event will occur at the Prairie Lakes AEA, 824 Flindt Drive, Storm Lake, IA.
The key to successful integration of productive crop or pasture ground and healthy wildlife populations is to find opportunity areas on your property to manage to promote wildlife.
