URBAN-RURAL BUS
Last year Iowa’s largest drinking water provider
sued farm drainage districts in 3 counties upstream. As
trial awaits in 2017, Des Moines Water Works has
alleged excess nitrate runoff from farm fertilizers
plagues efforts to comply with federal guidelines for safe
drinking water. The utility claims cleaning the surface
waters of the Raccoon River for half a million ratepayers
in the capitol city vicinity has become an increasingly
difficult and expensive task.
Bill Stowe/CEO and General Manager – Des Moines Water Works: “We’re very confident that these are clear point-source groundwater polluters that are coming from agricultural use.”
Ultimately, the case could redefine and broaden
government jurisdiction over Waters of the United
States – a prospect feared by many in farm country.
Darcy Maulsby/Expedition Yetter: “I’m not sure a lot of people in Iowa even knew where Calhoun County was before this lawsuit.”
Various producers, commodity groups, and
politicians at the local and national level have called for
widespread adoption of voluntary conservation methods
to ward off new legislation.
1 But farmer and author Darcy Maulsby, who traces
her lineage to a Century Farm near the small town of
Yetter in one of the counties named in the lawsuit,
hopes a dose of rural hospitality could mend fences.
Darcy Maulsby/Expedition Yetter: “I’ve noticed this growing trend towards this rift between rural Iowa and urban Iowa – and that really troubled me.”
Maulsby envisioned a journey bringing farm and
city stakeholders together to help elevate the level of
discourse. And after partnering with local non-profit
Iowa Food & Family Project, the Iowa Soybean
Association and several other food industry groups,
tourists of diverse backgrounds loaded up in Des
Moines early one summer morning for the maiden
voyage of ‘Expedition Yetter.’
Aaron Putze/Iowa Soybean Association: “A lot of people think Iowa is flat, but if you look a little closer, it really isn’t. It has a lot of undulation to the landscape.”
Factoids about rural America were sprinkled
throughout the bus ride.
Aaron Putze/Iowa Soybean Association: “You will find that soybean oil is the number one ingredient in your Hellman’s Mayonnaise. The soybeans that are grown that produce the oil for that product are sourced from a sixty-mile radius around Des Moines, Iowa.”
The first stop on the tour was Bruce Wessling’s
2 family farm outside Grand Junction.
Bruce Wessling/Grand Junction, Iowa: “We believe in what we do and we consume the products that we raise and I want other people to feel safe doing the same thing.”
Wessling shared the intricacies of his row crop
and pig operations, explaining how manure
management plans help livestock owners safeguard
against health concerns and abide by natural resource
regulations.
Bruce Wessling/Grand Junction, Iowa: “I feel like our operation is a complete circle of the operation from growing the corn, feeding the livestock, putting nutrients back on the soil…”
Former University of Iowa and NFL quarterback
Chuck Long hitched a ride as well. He marveled at the
culmination of knowledge found on today’s farms.
Chuck Long/CEO – Iowa Sports Foundation: “It’s just fascinating that, you know, with technology now, the machinery that they use – how streamlined and precise they can get.”
Nostalgia sprouted for one Sioux City
schoolteacher, who shared family memories of hard
work.
Kris Snavely/Sioux City: “My dad did farm drainage tiling a long time ago, in the 80’s, and there was no GPS. And I helped him quite a bit.”
3 Agri-tourism ventures like ‘Expedition Yetter’ have
grown in popularity over recent years. According to
USDA’s 2012 Census of Agriculture, over 33,000 farms
integrated tourism and recreational services into their
repertoire. As of the last available figures, activities like
winery tours, hayrides, hunting and fishing represent
$700 million in annual revenue for enterprising
American landowners…a nearly $150 million increase
over 2007’s Ag Census numbers.
The largest returns have come mostly in western
states, which earned revenues of up to $24 million in
certain counties.
By contrast, Iowa tops out annually around
$350,000, but again, USDA figures are now several
years old. Organizers like Maulsby see more
opportunities for migrations through the countryside,
citing the demand for reconciliation of rural and urban
issues.
David Ausberger/Jefferson, Iowa: “If you think about it, the air that we are breathing is 78% nitrogen. Those plants will take that nitrogen out of the air, fix it, and use it to help their own growth.”
Rounding out the jaunt, bus riders visited David
4 Ausberger’s 1,700 acre corn and soybean operation
near Jefferson. A fourth generation producer,
Ausberger and his family have practiced no-till farming
for decades, to minimize erosion.
David Ausberger/Jefferson, Iowa: “I’m really conscientious about soil compaction.”
Ausberger has converted unproductive land to
wetland habitat, added buffers strips and cover crops.
He says the approach benefits nature and future farm
generations but admits it takes a strong level of
commitment to stay on track.
David Ausberger/Jefferson, Iowa: “So it’s a whole systems approach and it’s not something that you go into lightly.”
As farmers attempt to chip away at looming
litigation with voluntary efforts, many agree time is the
most precious commodity of all. Farm community
members say there are no quick fixes for ever-present
nitrates in corn-belt creeks and streams. And if Des
Moines Water Works should win, farming could go
under a regulatory microscope. But some see the
benefits of a spotlight shining on Iowa agriculture.
Darcy Maulsby/Expedition Yetter: “In a way I’m glad that the lawsuit has put the attention on agriculture,
5 because we can show how complex this whole water quality issue is. We’re happy to open up the barn door and invite people in. We’re all Iowans. We’re all in this together.”
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