Mary Damm, of Bloomington, Indiana, holds a native prairie plant aloft. Mary is a prairie ecologist and owner of Prairie Quest Farm, a grass-based livestock operation located near McGregor, Iowa. The farm was previously owned by Mary’s close friend, the late Dan Specht, a long-time Practical Farmers member who was passionate about grassland birds and believed working farms and conservation complement each other. After his sudden death in 2013, Mary managed to purchase part of the farm and is working to continue his farming vision.