The guy I worked for was a member of Iowa Land Improvement Contractors of America. We went to all their meetings and learned about modern soil conservation. Although I had grown up on a farm, I learned a lot.

http://ialica.com/

Last week my wife and I drove from our farmstead north of Storm Lake to Cherokee. Sadly, I saw fields that the heavy rains had washed through. In the push for more bushels per acre, all of the places where there should have been grass waterways were massive gullies in the open dirt. Field tiling cannot do it alone.

The contractor I worked for told me several times: You know, there are a lot of Iowa farmland areas that should never have been broken up.

I agree.

I have a 1.1 acre garden plot and use John Deere Garden Tractors with 3 point hitch and pull type attachments. I collect and use GTs from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s.

None are “parade queens” but I keep them nice looking as possible. They earn their keep working.

It would be great to show folks just starting out what can be done on smaller plots with small scale equipment….

Loud as I drive a country road
the committee of old farmers in uproar
no longer content to offer advice
when to plant, when to cut hay
the price of corn
the weather
now furious at the ground laid bare
violated by the downpour into gullies
finally holding my head in hand
I stop the pickup.
Most helpful when unanimous
but now arguing over where they went wrong
(for all old farmers love the land)
these the voices in my head
Father, Grandfather
neighbors Bob and Enoch and Henry
(three Henrys) intolerant of the mistake
of forgetting the lesson of the dust bowl
…. Ding Darling …. Big Hugh Bennett
forgetting Aldo Leopold
driving me to quiet all old advice
so I can finish my travel
for I too, upset by what I see
reach for answers deep
memories, voices, loves.

In most industries the prospect of destroying the equipment – or in this case land – is enough to incent the business owner to take care of it.

Thank you!