This farm also reflects conservation in action. The Hildreth’s farming practices earned the family a 2024 Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award.

“God trusted us with this land, and we feel blessed to care for it and manage it,” said Conner Hildreth, 30. “We want to be stewards of the land and leave it in better condition than when we received it.”

Crops and livestock production are integral parts of the Hildreth’s farm. Along with their soybean/corn rotation, the Hildreths started incorporating cover crops about three years ago on 5% of their crop land (about 70 acres).

“Today, about 25% to 30% of our cropland (about 350 acres to 420 acres) is planted in cover crops, and we want to increase our cover-crop acres,” Hildreth said.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Conner and Ashley Hildreth, of Rockwell City, are shown here on their farm with their children, including (left to right) Barret, Benson, Broden, and Breely. The family received an Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award in 2024.

While cereal rye is the Hildreth’s main cover crop, they have experimented with other cover crops, including wheat.

“I like using cover crops, because they minimize soil compaction, increase organic matter in the soil, help take in nitrates to prevent them from leaching away, and they decompose nitrogen back into the soil,” Hildreth said.

The family also uses no-till on about 30% of their acres.

“My dad, Gary, tried no-till first, and I saw the benefits, so I knew it was worth it to start making this change,” said Hildreth, who started no-tilling and strip-tilling in 2015.

Strip-till, a modified tillage method, involves tilling narrow strips of soil while leaving the residue between rows undisturbed. It offers many advantages, including improved soil health, erosion control, fuel savings (from reduced numbers of passes across the field), fertilizer efficiency and more.

Today, Hildreth strip-tills 100% of the family’s corn acres. He’s also working to increase the family’s no-till acres each year.

“There are so many advantages to no-till, including better water filtration, less erosion, and decreased crop input costs,” said Hildreth, who also likes how no-till helps the soil retain moisture in dry years. “No-till improves overall soil health, which helps with plant health.”

Improving Iowa’s soil and water

The Hildreths were among the 44 Iowa farm families who were honored during the Iowa Farm Environmental Leader award ceremony at the 2024 Iowa State Fair. The winners were chosen by a committee representing conservation and agricultural groups.

The Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award honors farmers who take voluntary actions to improve and protect Iowa’s natural resources, including soil and water. The award is sponsored by the Iowa Governor’s Office, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and Iowa Department of Natural Resources. A total of 821 Iowa farm families have been recognized since the creation of the Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award in 2012.

“We’re proud to honor farm families who have gone above and beyond, often for generations, to safeguard the land that feeds the world and makes our way of life possible,” said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. “Thank you for preserving our state’s natural resources for decades to come.”

For years, the Hildreth family has incorporated a number of conservation practices on their land to protect the soil. They have many long-standing terraces (roughly 4,075 linear feet of terraces), as well as grass waterways, to control soil erosion. They also have a number of buffer strips. (These areas of permanent vegetation between ag fields and bodies of water help control erosion and protect water quality.)

Out of the roughly 1,400 acres of cropland that Hildreth farms, nearly 41 acres are pasture/hay fields, and about 106 acres are in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). (This voluntary program encourages farmers and landowners to convert highly erodible and other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover.) Of the CRP land, 14 acres are filter strips. (These areas of vegetation remove pollutants from runoff and improve water quality.)

The Hildreths manage their cropland and cover crops to not only improve soil and plant health, but to benefit their livestock. The family has 45 cow/calf pairs, 30 ewes with 50 lambs, 700 head of hogs (all raised in hoop barns for Niman Ranch — a network of farmers who produce livestock in a sustainable, humane, traditional manner), bees and homestead dairy cattle.

“Rotational grazing helps us raise healthy cattle and sheep while keeping our pastures productive,” Hildreth said. (In a rotational grazing system, livestock are moved between multiple pastures, or paddocks, so that each area can rest and replenish its natural resources to improve soil, plant, and animal health.)

“Our grazing management system utilizes many paddocks and solar-powered wells,” Hildreth said. “We plan to expand our use of solar-powered wells to keep livestock out of the creek. We’re also improving the seeding mixture on our pasture to enhance the land’s grazing capabilities.”

Stewardship also extends to the Hildreth’s hoop barns where they raise hogs. The family deep-beds the hoop barns with corn stalks, which can be composted after it’s cleaned out from the barns.

“We spread this dry compost onto our fields after taking manure samples from it,” Hildreth said. “Testing the nutrients helps us know how much or how little to apply.”

Giving back to the community

Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award recipients like the Hildreths know that the benefits of conservation practices extend beyond their farms. They make community service a priority and encourage others to adopt more conservation practices.

“I’m following in my dad’s footsteps by serving as a commissioner with the Calhoun County Soil and Water Conservation District (CCSWCD),” said Hildreth, who serves as the group’s treasurer.

In September 2022, the Hildreth family partnered with the CCSWCD and Calhoun County Extension and Outreach to host a windbreak meeting on their farm near Rockwell City. They shared their experiences with planting and maintaining windbreaks on their farm. The field day also included guest speakers like Billy Beck, an Iowa State University Extension forestry specialist. Roughly 75 people from across western and central Iowa attended this educational event.

“It’s our duty to set a good example for the next generation, just like previous generations set a good example for us,” Hildreth said. “We want to instill values that focus on caring for this land properly.”