Index
After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene (Purdy), 175
Alternative Roots Farm, 148–50, 152–53, 155
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 66
Beaver (Minnesota): erosion and, 113–16
beekeepers, 36
Big Spring Project (Iowa), 4
bio-drilling: cover crops and, 103, 167
bioreactors: nutrient runoff and, 5, 137
Birds and Beans Coffee, 177
bobolink, 7, 61, 63–64, 66–70, 72, 116, 119, 175, 178; as an indicator species, 73–74
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, 13, 177
Brown, Gabe, 81–84, 89–91, 164
BT corn, 127
Buffalo Commons, 137
Burleigh County Soil Health Team (North Dakota), 75–91, 187
carbon, 46, 85, 122, 144, 168–70; soil organic matter and, 77–80, 86
Carlson, Sarah, 98
Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for a Vanishing Songbird (Fallon), 181
Chippewa River (Minnesota), 50, 55
Chippewa River Watershed Project, 55
colony collapse disorder, 36
community conservation, 156, 168
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), 30, 32, 117, 146
concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), 31–32, 133, 170, 176
Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative (Indiana), 93–111
Conservation Reserve Program, 18, 34, 43, 64, 117–18, 162
Conservation Stewardship Program, 73, 118; creation of, 172
Coon Valley (Wisconsin), 113–14
Corn Belt, 5, 8, 13, 16, 60, 93–94, 100, 107, 128–29, 137
cover crops, 8, 49, 51–53, 62, 76–82, 87–89, 93, 96–99, 101–2, 104–7, 110–11, 166, 168, 170, 186; cocktail mixes and, 51–52, 80, 111
Des Moines Lobe, 28
Des Moines Waterworks, 5
DeSutter, Dan, 100, 103–5, 107, 167, 173, 186
Dirty Thirties, 43
Driftless Area, 7, 58, 112, 114, 117, 143–44
Drobney, Pauline, 139
early adopters, 102–3, 105, 108, 165
East Twin Lake Wildlife Management Area, 31, 34
ecological agrarians, 14, 42, 142, 146, 164
EcoSun Prairie Farms, 157
Enriching the Earth (Smil), 133
Environmental Protection Agency: National Water Quality Assessment and, 5
Environmental Quality Incentives Program, 118, 172
Fallon, Katie, 181
The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems (Jackson and Jackson), 12, 14
Farm Beginnings (Land Stewardship Project), 151, 158
Fearless Farm Finances, 40
Federal Policy Committee (Land Stewardship Project), 172
Fisher, Barry, 94–95, 97–99, 102–3, 108
Flush Tax (Maryland), 106
Forest Stewardship Program (Minnesota), 118
Fuhrer, Jay, 77–81, 83, 86–88, 90
GMOs (genetically modified organisms), 127, 180, 184
Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey through Carbon Country (White), 170
Grassland Reserve Program, 118
greenhouse gases, 6, 67, 74, 78, 126, 130, 144, 168–69
Gulf of Mexico, 3; dead zone and, 4–5, 125, 137
Haber-Bosch process for synthesizing nitrogen fertilizer, 133
Haney Soil Health Test, 67, 71–72
Hausdoerffer, John, 176
Hawkins, Betty, 116
Hawkins, Tex, xii, 14, 114–16, 119–22
Heinen, Ryan, 158
HEL (Highly Erodible Land), 117
Hoch, Greg, 46
honey bees, 153
hybrid seed corn, 101, 165; Greene County, Iowa, early adopters study and, 101–2
Ikerd, John, 165
Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, 105
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, 39
Iowa State University, 4, 11, 31, 37, 135
Jackson, Laura, 12
Jaus, Loretta and Martin, 17–27, 93, 167, 171, 174–75, 177–83, 185–87
Jenniges, Dan, 47–57, 166, 168
Jenniges, Linda, 49
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 168–70
Kernza, 131
Kickapoo River Valley (Wisconsin), 140–43, 166
Klinge, Jeff, 7
Knisley, Brooke and John, 148–55, 171–72, 187
Kroese, Ron, xi
Lake Erie: algal bloom, 5, 106
Lakeside Prairie Farm, 156, 162–63
Landscaping for Wildlife (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources), 119
“land sparing” farming, 18
Land Stewardship Letter (Land Stewardship Project), xi
Land Stewardship Project, xi, 14, 55, 151, 172
Lark, Tyler, 44
Leopold, Aldo, 11–14, 20, 108, 113, 116, 134; “The Farmer as a Conservationist,” 12; “intelligent tinkering” and, 20; land ethic of, 11
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, 38, 135
LiDAR (light detection and ranging), 137
Liebig, Justus von, 96
Luetmer, Joe and Sylvia, 158–59
managed rotational grazing, 6, 19, 21, 51, 63, 66, 73, 121, 158, 169, 170
Mastodon Valley Farm, 143, 145–46
Meine, Curt, 113
Menoken Farm (North Dakota), 78–79
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), 32; Organic Conference and, 36
Milgram, Stanley, 174
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 26, 46, 118
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 120, 125
Minnesota Prairie Conservation Plan, 47
Minnesota River, 24
Mississippi River, 3–4, 7–8, 24, 112–15, 121, 134, 137, 143
mob grazing, 51, 81, 88–89, 166
Monitoring Team (Land Stewardship Project), 115–16
moral hazard: crop insurance and, 173
Muhm, Don, 126
mycorrhizae fungi, 102, 110–11, 153
National Audubon Society, 47
National Wildlife Federation, 96, 103
Native Americans: agriculture and, 144
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 26, 34, 52, 77, 94, 117, 137, 147, 150, 168
The Nature and Properties of Soils (Weil), 109
The Nature Conservancy, 19, 44, 47–48, 52, 56, 60, 157
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, 135
Nichols, Kristine, 83–85, 87, 90–91
nitrogen fertilizer, 3–5, 24, 67, 82, 96, 101–2, 104, 108, 120, 132, 136–37; Haber-Bosch process and, 133
North American Prairie Conference, 59
Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, 83
North Iowa Fresh, 30
N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), 67, 96, 107
oak savanna habitat, 141–46, 156, 158, 161
Ohio River Basin, 137
One Step at a Time Gardens, 30–31, 39–40
organic agriculture, 14, 19, 21–23, 63, 73, 151–52, 154, 167, 177–78, 180, 182, 185; National Organic Program and, 19
Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, 40
Organic Valley Cooperative, 21, 177, 181–82
permaculture, 145
Pollan, Michael, 166
pollinators, 6, 36–39, 47, 54, 62, 68, 72, 74, 107, 125, 136, 139, 145, 147, 153–54, 156, 158, 172, 174, 179, 182
Practical Farmers of Iowa, 39, 64, 70, 98
prairie fringed orchid, 70
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 43, 134
Purdue University, 95, 100, 103
Raccoon River (Iowa), 5
Ray, Victor, xi
Rebel Soil Farm, 181
regenerative adaptive multipaddock conservation grazing, 169
Renewable Fuel Standard, 43, 171
Roundup Ready herbicide-resistant package, 127–28
A Sand County Almanac (Leopold), 11
Savory, Allan, 86
Serfling, Dave, 172
Shepard, Mark, 145
silvopasturing, 130
Simon, Bryan and Jessie, 155–63
Smil, Vaclav, 133
Society for Ecological Restoration, 71
Soil and Water Conservation Districts, 8, 26, 100, 113, 150
soil erosion, 8, 21–22, 39, 45, 80, 85, 87, 90, 95, 113, 121, 125–26, 128–29, 136–39, 150, 167–70, 173, 178
soil health, 37, 67–68, 71–73, 75–111, 142, 153, 166–68, 170, 173–74, 185–87; Aldo Leopold and, 108
soil organic matter, 26, 67, 77–78, 81–85, 87–89, 91, 97, 104, 109–10, 168
Spivak, Marla, 36
STRIPS (Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips), 135–39
Successful Farming (magazine), 15, 180
tallgrass prairie, 7, 44, 59, 108, 136, 143, 148, 180
technological optimism, 184–85
technological pessimism, 184–85
University of Minnesota, 36, 131, 153, 155, 171
University of Wisconsin, 20, 43–44, 113, 140
Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, 115, 121
U.S. Census of Agriculture, 167
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 19, 26, 34, 62, 72, 77, 83, 94, 117, 126–27, 134, 137, 147, 162
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 14, 25–26, 45, 47–48, 54, 114, 139, 159, 162, 175, 178
U.S. Government Accounting Office, 173
Van Ryswyk, Gary, 129, 135–36, 138
Wallace, Henry A., 171
Warthesen, Jack and Marge, 112–23, 134, 166, 173, 175
Weed, Becky, 16
Werling, Michael, 92–93, 100–106, 109
West Indian Creek (Minnesota), 112, 114, 118–19, 121
Wetlands Reserve Program, 18, 34–35
White, Courtney, 170
Whitewater River Valley (Minnesota), 113–14
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, 10
Wild Farm Alliance, 134
wildlife friendly farming, 18
Wildness: Relations of People and Place (Van Horn and Hausdoerffer), 176–77
Winona State University, 14, 114
Wisconsin River, 143