NOTEBOOK – One good Read: Western Iowa family setting an example for land stewardship

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SFI Inc., a grain and livestock farm in western Iowa, sits on the water-quality firing line, Successful Farming reports, located as it is in the Raccoon River watershed, where several counties faced a lawsuit from Des Moines Water Works over runoff and pollution issues. The lawsuit was dismissed in federal court, but the Smith family, which has run a livestock and grain crop operation under the SFI name for two generations, continues to carry out a sophisticated plan to reduce water-spoiling runoff from their 1,900 acres. They compost manure from the livestock operation and carry it to the field as they are hauling the corn out at harvest. They have an aggressive plan to move cattle in and out of pasture. They have buffer strips and they have expanded their use of cover crops. They even are building a machine that will allow them to interseed a cover crop and apply sidedress nitrogen in June in the same pass. Read more