F2F: Laura Krouse & Margaret Smith – 2021 Virtual Annual Conference

Laura Krouse and Margaret Smith have known each other since college, where they met in the hall of the ISU Agronomy building. Despite their conventional education, both were drawn to sustainable and regenerative agricultural systems. Join them for a discussion about the evolution of their conservation ethic and how that influences their current roles and decisions on their farms.

• Margaret Smith is a forage agronomist for Albert Lea Seed with previous experience working for ISU Extension and the ISU Department of Agronomy. She and her husband, Doug Alert, operate Ash Grove Farm, a diversified, certified organic crop and livestock operation near Hampton, in Franklin County, Iowa.
• Laura Krouse operates Abbe Hills Farm on 72 acres near Mt. Vernon, in Linn County, Iowa, where she and her crew grow vegetables for a large CSA and a handful of other local markets. The farm is managed with crop rotation, cover crops, integrated pest management and pollinator habitat, and without the use of synthetic pesticides.