As a prairie reconstructionist in Iowa, I have developed an eye for what we do and do not have on our landscape. We do have corn, we don’t have much native prairie. We do have a lot of hog and poultry confinements, we don’t have much forest. We do have a lot of field drainage tiling, we don’t have many wetlands. See, now you’re developing that eye for haves and have nots.
As rural as Iowa is, it is the state that is the most altered from its original, well you know, state. An interesting wrinkle to this reality is many Iowans have been trained to celebrate this by the agribusiness stakeholders that have thrived in this degraded landscape. We indoctrinate our school children early on to be proud that Iowa is the top corn producer, the top pork producer and even the top chicken producer- that’s quite a trophy case of top prizes, eh? You see, with so much to celebrate here in Iowa it’s very hard to focus on what we don’t have trophies for, things like soil retention, thriving pollinator populations, and unhealthy water quality in our streams, lakes and rivers.
Thankfully, through large scale taxpayer sponsored programs like CRP (conservation reserve program), FRP (the forest variety), WRP (wetlands), EQIP (environmental quality incentives program), and CSP (conservation stewardship program) Iowa has been able to slow the bleed on some of the damages caused by such an industrialized landscape. CRP alone has been able to reconstruct approximately 1.7 million acres of the near 30 million acres of grassland we have plowed under, much of which is native prairie. The other programs have helped incentivize landowners to preserve forests and wetlands, allowing for some species of wildlife to thrive. On occasion I hear complaints from taxpayers regarding their mandatory contributions to state and federal conservation programs, but those who understand its value look at these programs as their opportunity to sponsor some of the most invaluable resources we all need to live: clean water, clean air, biodiversity, a life supporting climate, and rich topsoil that forms the foundation of our ecosystem.
As Christians we should look back on man’s time in Eden when he was hired for his first job as keeper of the garden, and evaluate how we are fulfilling that original task today. If we own land, we should steward the land in a productive way, but never excessively. Conserving the acres of native cover that elevate the ecosystem, and counting robust biodiversity as another target yield. If we don’t own land, we should diligently seek to support those who do in a way that promotes healthy ecosystems now, and into the future. Now that’s something to celebrate.
Kent Boucher currently works as the Production Manager for Iowa based Hoksey Native Seeds. He is also the cohost of the Prairie Farm Podcast.
