The fledgling business suffered a setback to their seed and custom application operation when the weather turned for the worse in Paton, just north of Grand Junction, in December 2021. Not only was the building where they conducted their business gone, but with it their inventory of rye, buckwheat, and oats.

Mother Nature, however, didn’t understand that she was taking on fishing buddies and 4-H friends — and Iowa Cover Crop owners and operators — Bill Frederick and James Holz.

“The idea of this operation came up in 2014 when we were fishing together,” said Frederick.

“We were disagreeing about every topic that came up that day, but the one thing we could agree on was our excitement for cover crops. The idea was really getting traction in our state.”

Shortly after, the duo began peddling seeds to neighbors and doing some custom applications.

“We had all the infrastructure we needed to start,” said Frederick. “We had our farm equipment and cell phones, and that’s all we really needed.”

Eventually, Iowa Cover Crop worked with the partner in Paton to clean and package seed. All was going well until that extreme December weather event.

“We hadn’t really invested in any infrastructure at that point,” said Frederick. “We were poor-boying it along as we could. The tornado forced us to either go out or go all in. We didn’t think twice about it. We’re very excited about this industry, and we know we have a place in it.”

A year after the devastation, Iowa Cover Crop has — quite literally — a “place in it”: an 80-by-200-foot warehouse at 1669 N. Avenue, just south of Jefferson along Iowa Highway 4.

In June of 2022, contractors were pouring concrete and the exterior was completed in early fall.

Frederick and Holz hosted their first Cover Crop Field Day at their new headquarters in November 2022.

“It was the moment we planned and hoped for as we made the big decision to invest in ourselves and our business with this building,” said Frederick. “ICC headquarters will become the hub for conservation agriculture here in central Iowa.”

Part of building that “hub” has been to hold Conservation Coffees on Fridays, when they invite the public to talk about farming, gardening, cover crops, and pollinators — and the opportunity to see their new headquarters.

Business is going well enough these days that they couldn’t keep up with sales and customer applications while growing their business.

“We have five full-time employees now, which includes our wives,” said Frederick. “James’ wife Megan is our social media expert, and my wife Melissa brought her science background into our business. We also have a warehouse manager, Trevor Ross, who is integral to our operations.

“We’ve been able to grow through a competent dealer network. We have 15 dealers in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Minnesota. We just can’t do everything for everyone any longer. We want to chase opportunity without spreading ourselves too thin. Both James and I have families and farm our own land; ICC allows us to also pursue our dream of the family farm.”

Out of their new building, Iowa Cover Crop will do some blending and packaging of their own seed, as well as sell grass seed, food plot mixes, and prairie flower blends in small and large quantities.

While cover crops are their bread and butter, Frederick and Holz also help with lawns that need reseeding or a space for a pollinator garden or a perfect deer hunting spot.

Iowa Cover Crop is also active with Future Farmers of America (FFA) with their “Future is Covered” program.

“We’ve had two years of distributing free cover crops to Iowa’s FFA Chapters,” said Frederick.

“We were excited to support 27 Iowa FFA Association chapters across the state with seed to cover 295 acres of Iowa’s land. Over half of the chapters are trying cover crops for the first time. We love this program and hope it’s one small step to inspire the next generation of soil health stewards.”

Iowa Cover Crop focuses on specialty seeds, basically anything other than corn and soybeans. They have a broad selection of cover crops, native blends for Conservation Reserve Programs (CRP), and grasses for pastures, lawns, landscaping, and waterways. Combined, the owners have 20 years of experience growing cover crops.

Before being business partners, Frederick and Holz were 4-H friends and classmates growing up in Greene County near Jefferson.

“Our specialty is full-service seed and application,” said Frederick. “If a farmer provides us with the goals of their seeding, we will help them identify the best seed for their situation. With the customer’s maps, our experienced aerial and high clearance applicators will plant your cover crops.”

When Frederick and Holz aren’t selling cover crops, they can be found raising row crops, cattle, small grains, and kids on their respective family farms in Greene County.