By Jay E. Howe, Free Press Field Editor

Reprinted with permission from Page 2A Adair County Free Press August 20, 2008

Last Saturday was the 10th anniversary of when 1000 Friends of Iowa was founded to 1) conserve and protect farmland and natural areas, 2) revitalize neighborhoods, towns and cities and 3) improve Iowa’s natural environment. It was celebrated at the Ankeny  grain-livestock farm of Craig and LaVon Griffieon. From their farmstead you can view south to sprawling urban development upon lands that are the richest in the world, with corn suitability ratings well over 90. The roof of the mega-church rises just down the gravel road, making one wonder if its parishioners have read Isaiah 5:8-10, where the prophet admonishes us to respect the land as sacred creation or eventually be impoverished.

There is a small yet growing “green” movement to reverse the eco-collapse of Iowa’s countryside that accelerated in the 70s with the advent of much larger farm implements and widespread chemical use. In 1800 Iowa was 80% natural prairie, 18% woodland, 2% water surface. It was naturally sustainable. Today two-thirds of the land is planted to corn and bean rotation and life-giving natural processes are under assault. Things are out of balance.

With reliance on farm subsidies (after abandonment supply-management and the ever-normal granary that characterized Henry Wallace’s 1935-1952 farm policy) we overproduced feed grains, got lower grain prices, and then tried in vain to make it up in volume. This resulted in “mining” our farms, soil erosion, water pollution, and loss of ecosystems as well as an exodus of millions of farm families from the land, both in the US and in other countries (Mexico, etc.). With bio-fuels now in demand, who knows what the impact of intense cropping will be?

Speakers at the anniversary event spoke of land preservation urgency and of opportunities for a “restoration ecology” that allows us to grow ample healthy foods while moving to practices that sustain rural landscapes into the future. One speaker was University of Iowa professor Cornelia Mutel who has written about the history of nature in Iowa “The Emerald Horizon”. Another was Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey (R) who displayed a thorough knowledge of contemporary farming and an excellent ability to comprehend and deal with complex farm policy issues and policy impacts.

Mutel explained how in 200 years Iowans undertook the most radical manmade transformation of a natural landscape in the history of the world. Now this generation must undertake the task of managing recovery of its threatened landscape. The cost of doing nothing ecological collapse. As a starter Mutel suggests converting 50% of the nation’s corn and soybean fields into perennial coverage. Adair County’s hills and slopes could accommodate this scheme as well as any other place.

And, with tighter feed grain supplies, increases in commodity prices would help stabilize higher net farm income for all sectors of agriculture, including producers of locally marketed fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry.

                                -Free Press Field Editor, J.E.H.