Illinois farmers wanted for Iowa farm tour

Jun 06, 2016

Tour will revolve around water-quality efforts

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

The Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) is looking for members to participate in a tour of Iowa farms to better understand some of the state’s water quality initiatives.

The Nutrient Issues Tour to Iowa is scheduled for Aug. 8-10 and will include demonstration farms, traditional and unique nutrient loss management strategies, additional funding for farmers, and meet with mayors to discuss partnerships farmers have with other communities concerning drinking water.

Illinois is two years behind Iowa when it comes to implementing its Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy and the tour is designed for Illinoisan farmers to bring what they learn back to their own farms.

Illinois Farm Bureau

“By visiting Iowa, we hope to learn where collaboration between ag and non-ag partners is working, in the case of great watershed projects – and where it is not working, in the case of lawsuits,” IFB said. “Our goal is that trip participants will see firsthand what is working in Iowa and return to Illinois as experts on the nutrient loss issue.”

Any member of the Illinois Farm Bureau in good standing is eligible to attend the tour.

Applications must be completed by Wednesday, June 15, and final selections will be made on Tuesday, July 5.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.