Urban-Rural Bus

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

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.”