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| 1/27/2010 1:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION ISSUE 2010
Habitat for Humanity, Johannsen top SWCD honorees
Farmers, volunteers feted at annual banquet
By: Brian Rathjen
of the NSP
ELDRIDGE - A project by Habitat for Humanity to install stormwater infiltration practices at two of its home sites was among five award winners during the Scott County Soil & Water Conservation District's recent annual meeting.
Habitat for Humanity was one of two Special Recognition Award winners during the annual banquet and program, which took place Dec. 16, at Del's Restaurant and Pub, Eldridge.
Amy Johannsen, of the SWCD's Partners of Scott County Watershed, was also honored with a Special Recognition Award. Brothers Jack and John Schinckel took the Sweepstakes Award, while Allan and Richard Hoffmann were recipients of the Owner/Operator Award. Norman and Neal Sawyer were honored with the Prescribed Grazing Award.
Below is more about the recipients and their awards:
Sweepstakes Award:
Jack and John Schinckel
John and Anna Schinckel, who had immigrated from Germany to Scott County in the early 1900s, were hired to work at the Hahn Farm in Scott County, where they met and married.
The couple rented land and were eventually able to purchase 120 acres of prairie ground. The difficult task ahead of the Schinckels was getting prairie ground converted to cropland and tilling the wet soils.
The elder Schinckels purchased more land, and in 1958, the original farm and additional land was sold to their sons, Jack and John.
Jack and John grew up caring for the land and animals, and have passed their practices down to younger generations. John and his wife, Margaret, have been married since 1971 and have six children and two grandchildren. Jack and his wife, Jean, have been married since 1962 and have four daughters and 10 grandchildren. The Schinckel families have been involved in many farming activities and organizations, and Jean has been honored as an Iowa Merit Mother and Iowa Master Farm Homemaker.
The Schinckel brothers are second generation farmers. Their farm has grown from 120 acres to approximately 400 acres. Over the years, at any given time, there were 2,500 hogs and 100 cattle on the farm. Both remember the flood of 1991 when the waters came out of the creek and scattered debris everywhere, damaged the fences and the cattle got out. Another memorable experience was when they received their 1942 John Deere tractor. Neighbors from all around came to see the new tractor with its starter and lights.
Cooperating with their operator, John and Jack are protecting the farm and the environment with no-till conservation tillage, contour farming, grassed waterways, grassed headlands and filter strips. When asked why conservation is so important to them, the Schinckel brothers responded that their grass waterways filter the water runoff to prevent chemicals from entering the creek and help prevent erosion in order to protect the land. More importantly to them "farming is the lifeline of food; it feeds the world."
Prescribed Grazing Award
Norman and Neal Sawyer
Norman Sawyer, a native of Princeton, can trace the Sawyer heritage as far back as the early 1870s. A graduate of Iowa State University who later served in the Navy, he is the fourth generation farmer on both sides of his parents. He and his wife, Lorna, raised three children: Herbert, Neal and Sarah. They also have a granddaughter.
Neal, their younger son, is a graduate of Luther College and is married to Lucie. He returned to the area in 2005 to help his father run the farm.
Father and son predominately raise Angus beef. In the early 1970s Norman and Lorna started selling Sawyer Beef to the community. Their goal is to sell natural corn- and hay-fed beef without adding hormone treatments or routine antibiotics to attain a quality beef product.
To achieve this objective, in 2008 they started an intensive grazing operation with the help of the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). The goal is to have 100,000 pounds of beef rotating on an acre of ground. To date they are rotating on 2-3 acre paddocks, so they see this plan as a long-term investment in conservation.
With the assistance of EQIP, the Sawyers have installed over 18,000 feet of water pipeline, 23 watering facilities and almost 20,000 feet of fence to establish the paddocks they use when rotating the cattle. They have also converted or enhanced their forage base on more than190 acres of their operation.
The Sawyers use the animals as the machines or resources to work the land. They can gain financially because they are using less iron and no chemical fertilizer and fewer fossil fuels. With this system, better grasses develop deeper root systems and more diverse plant species, which translates to higher quality forages for the cattle.
When asked why they like farming, they both said they like the challenges and being outdoors. One challenge they run into is the elements. Extreme temperatures are difficult, such as when everything freezes including farm machinery or when high heat indexes require keeping the cows hydrated.
Owner/Operator Award
Allan and Richard Hoffmann
The Hoffmanns - father Allan and son Richard - work together to preserve the land through conservation practices and overall good farming.
Allan and Richard farm approximately 500 acres, doing no-till and contour farming on the hillsides. They also have grass waterways and filter strips. Over the years at any one time, they have raised 200 or more hogs, 25-30 sheep, 20-30 cattle and a dozen dairy cows.
When asked why conservation is important to them, they responded that they feel they do not "own the land." Instead, it's like they are borrowing the land so it is their duty to take care of it, otherwise it erodes away.
Allan Hoffmann, a fourth-generation farmer, has farmed all his life in northern Scott County. He and his wife, Jeanette, raised three children: Richard, Tom and Jan. The children chose jobs away from the farm, although Richard remains involved with the farming operations as the farm's operator.
Richard, a graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, worked for the Davenport School District until 1993, and has been postmaster at the Dixon Post Office since 2007. He and his wife, Judy, have three children: Eric, Emily and Heidi. Like his father, Eric works at another profession, but he helps his father and grandfather with the farm.
Special Recognition:
Amy Johannsen
Amy Johannsen was hired as the new coordinator for Partners of Scott County Watershed on Aug. 6, 2007, just after graduating from the University of Iowa with a degree in geography and environmental studies. She interned for Johnson County Soil & Water Conservation District and worked on the Clear Creek Watershed Project.
During Johannsen's time with the Scott County SWCD, she not only learned many things over the next two years but she taught others about water quality conservation. Her efforts educated many Scott County residents about best stormwater management practices.
Through education camps, event booths, and projects like Habitat for Humanity Rain Garden Installation, she promoted urban conservation to hundreds of thousands of people. She also was instrumental in Scott County being approved to use State Cost Share Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) funds to install urban best management practices. This is the first time these funds were allowed to be used for urban conservation.
Since July 2008, the District was allocated $36,557.81 in REAP funding with $35,705.70 or 97.6 percent dedicated to urban practices. In November, the District received a Riverboat Development Grant in the amount of $30,000 for urban cost share. Seventy percent of the Riverboat Development Grant is already dedicated to urban cost share applications. SWCD officials said the increase in urban conservation is a direct result of Johannsen's efforts to educate urban residents and encourage them to install best management practices through the District cost share program.
Johannsen's efforts in Scott County have approved cost share on the following practices: 23 soil quality restorations, 12 bio-retention projects, 11 rain gardens, seven modular block paver systems, two infiltration trenches and a native landscaping project. She also completed three assessments, four project developments, 203 site plans, 22 vendor trainings and numerous public forum meetings.
"To say that Amy was busy would not describe her motivation and drive," SWCD officials said.
Other accomplishments include: fall and spring Snapshot Monitoring events; assisting Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) with 24 weeks of water quality monitoring in the Duck Creek Watershed; coordinating two sites for XStream Cleanup; attaining $4,000 from Riverboat Development Authority for the implementation of the "Junior Conservationist," an environmental day camp aimed at educating 127 underprivileged and minority youth; partnering with the city of Davenport and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the implementation of a 48-acre prairie reconstruction/wetland project; coordinating the maintenance of North High School Rain Gardens; attaining $2,700 from Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship for the installation of rain gardens for Habitat for Humanity homes; developing grant proposals for Duck Creek Watershed and Stafford Creek Watershed; and applying and gaining approval for the Riverboat Development Authority grant for Stormwater Best Management Practices in Scott County.
Johannsen is now employed as a compliance officer for the city of Davenport, but SWCD officials said she "will continue her quest for a better environment and better water quality for future generations. She definitely made a difference during her time as PSCW Coordinator for Scott County Soil and Water Conservation District."
Special Recognition:
Habitat for Humanity
The Habitat for Humanity Rain Garden Installation Workshops installed stormwater infiltration practices at two Habitat for Humanity homes. Through the effort of several people, entities and volunteers, these workshops were a great success.
The Habitat for Humanity Rain Garden Installation Workshops were created as a collaborative effort. Partners of Scott County Watershed secured a grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship for $2,620. When approached about the idea of building a rain garden at Habitat Homes, Habitat for Humanity-Quad Cities volunteered two homes.
As the project grew, Aunt Rhodie's Landscape and Design Studio and Delf's Landscape and Irrigation agreed to donate a crew of workers during each installation to help with the excavation of the rain gardens and the deep tillage required for soil quality restoration. Quint City Stone offered to donate rock to border the rain gardens. Iowa American Water donated 10 days of free water to help alleviate the costs associated with establishing soil quality restoration and a lawn seeding. Quad City Rain Barrels donated a rain barrel and diverter that will capture runoff from a small overhang on the roof. The rain barrel will be used to irrigate the family's plants. J&D Stones donated two large stones with the names of each family engraved on them.
The workshops took place at 1920 W. Second St., Davenport, and 309 E. 15th St., Davenport.
At the Second Street workshop, 20 volunteers, including students from Pleasant Valley High School, helped install three rain gardens along with soil quality restoration. Delf's Landscape and Irrigation helped with the deep tillage and heavy excavation work. Volunteers dug trenches for the gutters and applied the necessary compost and sand. The rain garden installations and soil quality restoration were completed by noon. After the soil quality restoration was completed, turf grass seeding was broadcasted. The rain gardens are designed to filter and infiltrate 1,100 gallons during the average storm event. If a larger storm event is encountered, the rain gardens, coupled with the soil quality restoration, can filter and infiltrate up to 3,000 gallons of stormwater.
Just before the workshop on East 15th Street, it had rained for 48 hours straight. Thirty-six volunteers, including several from St. Paul the Apostle Church in Davenport, were unfazed by the 6-inch-deep mud that covered the entire yard. By 10 a.m., volunteers were "dancing" in the compost, to incorporate it into the soil. Plywood boards were laid down as wheel barrow paths to connect the front and back yard. Two rain gardens and soil quality restoration were installed. The rain gardens and soil quality restoration were installed by noon. The rain gardens at this site were designed to filter and infiltrate 1,200 gallons of stormwater in an average storm, but coupled with the soil quality restoration they are able to infiltrate up to 3,000 gallons of stormwater in a large rain event.
Habitat volunteers continue to educate citizens on stormwater infiltration practices through various avenues, including booths at local farmers markets and other area events, such as the Quad City Conservation Alliances' Annual Lawn and Garden Show.
SWCD officials thanked those involved in making this project a success. They include: the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Habitat for Humanity, Partners of Scott County Watersheds, Delf's Landscape & Irrigation, Quint City Stone & Naturescape Center, Aunt Rhodie's Landscaping & Design Studio, the city of Davenport, Iowa American Water, Quad City Rain Barrels, J&D Stones, Pleasant Valley High School volunteers, and St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church volunteers.
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