Shaping a Better Future

My fellow coworkers and I are blessed with many opportunities to hear directly from farmers and landowners on their farms. To warm up this chilly December, here are three farms I visited this past sunny July. They, like all farms, delivered good lessons for PFI to reflect on and learn from.

Sally riding in the back of an electric Gator on a very sunny and hot day at Whiterock Conservancy. Liz Garst is driving, Lisa Hein is in the passenger seat.

Whiterock Conservancy, Coon Rapids, Iowa | July 18: Interconnectivity

I joined the board of Whiterock Conservancy at the end of 2023. As part of my onboarding, cofounder Liz Garst took me and Lisa Hein, of Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, on a tour.

If you haven’t had the chance to visit Whiterock, you should. It’s a state treasure, a 5,500-acre showcase of the interconnectivity between farming, conservation and recreation. When farmers and landowners embrace this mutuality, they can create farms that are good for the bottom line, the ecosystem and the surrounding community vitality.

Danamere Farm, Carlisle, Iowa | July 24: Dedication

Rob and Susan Fleming, who received PFI’s Farmland Owner Legacy Award in 2016, live primarily in Pennsylvania but come back regularly to tend to conservation and farming efforts on their family farm.

It’s an endless job, from keeping the perimeter of the fences mowed for vegetables grown by long-time farm renter Alex Congera, to battling the invasive Lespedeza cuneata, also known as sericea lespedeza, that’s pervasive in their restored prairie. But the Flemings are dedicated stewards, and have been working for decades to integrate conservation into a working farm. They’re working with INHF to help preserve this legacy into the future.

Paul Ackley, Bedford, Iowa | July 26: Curiosity

On my return from a site visit to plan the 2024 Farmland Owner Legacy Award (see page 6 to learn about this year’s recipient, Tim Kelley), I stopped at Paul Ackley’s farm. Paul has been on a soil health quest for more than 50 years. He places books on soil health throughout his home for ready reading, and collects quotes and notes to help guide him when he’s uncertain.

Paul and his late wife Nancy are recipients of PFI’s 2021 Sustainable Agriculture Achievement Award. It’s not a mystery why when you visit his farm. Each acre is tended to thoughtfully. His farm is a living example of this advice, from Dwayne Beck of Dakota Lakes Research Farm in Pierre, South Dakota, that Paul has hewed to in his learning journey: “Don’t change your land to fit your management. Change your management to fit your land.”

Continuous Learning

Farm visits like these offer invaluable insights, and are one of many ways staff learn from our members. Your input directly shapes our work, our programs – and our budget – letting us be relevant to you.

In September, the board approved our budget for fiscal year 2025 (Oct. 1, 2024-Sept. 20, 2025). We worked hard to ensure that every dollar of this budget was shaped by your priorities. Here are some highlights:

• With your partnership and guidance, we’ve grown substantially. Our budget for fiscal year 2025 is around $20 million dollars – a significant increase from the previous year. We are excited to infuse this level of funding into our mission, and we take stewardship of these resources seriously.
• $543,000 of this budget will go directly toward members for your leadership. This includes your time and expertise hosting and educating peers, doing on-farm research, mentoring others, doing outreach and more.
• In response to your feedback, we have budgeted more than $11 million to invest in cost-share programs and business development efforts to help you in your quest to build resilient farms.
• To expand our impact, we plan to distribute $1.87 million to partners that are mission-aligned, to help increase the footprint of our work.

I am extremely proud of the work we are doing together, and I’m grateful for the time you all spend sharing your priorities with PFI’s staff, board and fellow members.

If you’d like to share feedback on anything, from PFI’s finances to our programs, please reach out! I welcome your emails or text messages – and am always happy to visit you on your farm. If you’re curious to learn more about our budget, attend the business meeting during our annual conference, or get in touch!

Together, we are shaping a better future.

Learn More

Whiterock Conservancy: Visit whiterockconservancy.org.
Danamere Farm: Visit practicalfarmers.org/award-recipients and scroll down to find a news release about Rob and Sue Fleming.
Paul and Nancy Ackley: Read a profile at practicalfarmers.org/farming-for-the-long-haul.