7/31/2019 Evans Wallaces Feature

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y KATHLEEN CHESTER

FIVE young boys growing up on asouthern Iowa farm arent lackingfor conservation-minded role

odels if they have aspirations to carrythe familys farming tradition. Both theirrents and grandparents are recipients ofe Rathbun Lake Protector award, givennually by the Rathbun Land and Wateriance. The grandparents, Dwaine and

wyla Evans, received the award in 2008,d the parents, Pat and Amy Evans, werenored in 2011.Farming near the town of Derby, theans family is part of the nearly 500

ndowners whove worked with the al-

nces Protect Rathbun Lake Projectnce it began in 2004. The projects aim

to protect Rathbun Lake by imple-enting conservation practices in thekes 354,000-acre watershed, located inx southern Iowa counties of Appanoose,arke, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe and Wayne.Velvet Buckingham, environmentalecialist with the Iowa Department ofriculture and Land Stewardships divi-

on of soil conservation, coordinates theotect Rathbun Lake Project and says theans families were selected to receivee award because of their commitmentimprove and preserve the family farm,well as their actions to protect Rathbunke. The large lake is the water source forthbun Regional Water Association andovides drinking water to 80,000 people.Dwaine Evans was only about 14 years

d when he rented his first land from ancle in the Derby area. About three yearso, that same farmland was passed down

om my uncle to my son, Pat, and it is now00-year-old heritage farm, Dwaine says.

otecting farm a priorityaring for the land is important, Dwaineds. I always wanted to pass my farmto my kids and grandkids, and protecte land; leave it better than when we got He says the 75% cost share available toiority landowners through the projectlped them get quite a few of their con-rvation practices installed.

Farming is very much a family affairr the Evans who have farmed in Lucasunty all their lives. Like his father, Patans started farming at a young age when

A family affairKey Points

Protecting farm for future generations ispriority for this Iowa family.

Participating in watershed project helpedthem install conservation practices.

Terraces were built to stop water fromwashing down the hill.

he rented his first land from a friend andneighbor for a 4-H crop production project.Ive been farming ever since, he says.

The two families each own and renttheir own cropland, but they run theircows together and share pasture as wellas equipment. Together the Evans familymaintains 400 head of Angus, raises about

400 calves and 250 pigs, and farrows 15sows. Dwaine sells about 50 Angus bullseach year.

Buckingham says between the two op-erations the family has installed 16 sepa-rate conservation practices. This includesnearly 13,000 feet of terraces, three gradestabilization structures, and two water andsediment basins, she notes.

We built the terraces to stop waterfrom washing down the hill and takingthe soil with it, explains Pat. In the lastyear or so, farmland has gotten so highpriced, we want to try to keep as muchof that land as possible and keep it fromgoing to Rathbun Lake.

The Evans also seeded highly erodibleland, installed grassed waterways, builtmore than 2,000 feet of fence and installedwatering facilities in heavy use areas.These soil-saving practices reduce sedi-ment delivery to Rathbun Lake by 624 tonsper year and 2,183 pounds of phosphorusper year, says Buckingham.

Thats the equivalent of more than31,000 5-gallon buckets of sediment eachyear that no longer enter Rathbun Lake.

The influence given by the familiesfarming together is evidenced by thehearty affirmative head nods given bythe five boys when asked if they want tofarm someday. Dwaine says they plan tocontinue with the Protect Rathbun LakeProject as long as funds are available. Wehave applications in right now for cost-

sharing to install more conservation prac-tices, and well keep improving the land aslong as we can, says Dwaine.

Chester writes for the RLWA.

ONSERVATION IN MIND: The Evans boys can learn about protecting Rathbunke from their grandparents, Dwaine and Twyla Evans (left), and parents, Amy and

at Evans (right). The boys (from left) are Ethan, Levi, Blake, Logan and James.

ConservationWallaces Farmer www.FarmProgress.com May 2012 43