OUR STORY
NRCS was born out of troubled times — the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. Dust storms ravaged the Nation’s farmland, stripping away millions of tons of topsoil and carrying it all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. What originally began as the USDA Soil Conservation Service in 1935 is now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a name change that highlights our broader mission of natural resource conservation.
Our mission is to help deliver conservation solutions so agricultural producers can protect natural resources and feed a growing world. We believe in a world with clean and abundant water, healthy soils, resilient landscapes, and thriving agricultural communities through voluntary conservation. Through one-on-one, personalized advice, we work voluntarily with producers and communities to find the best solutions to meet their unique conservation and business goals. By doing so, we help address climate change and ensure the long-term sustainability of American agriculture. We’re also focused on the American farmer, especially those underserved by our programs as well as those trying to break into new markets, like organics.
TOGETHER WE CAN HELP
Keep Wetlands Intact
If your property sits on a wetland ecosystem, ensure that the wetlands remain intact. Wetlands act as a natural filter that keeps chemicals, excess nutrients and sediment from continuing through the water system, according to the Ecological Society of America. Forests along waterways also act as filters, so preserving or planting trees along streams and rivers can also help to keep waterways clean. This also aides' wildlife such as our quail and pheasants.
Keep Runoff Minimal
Producers can keep more water in their fields by improving soil structure with continuous no-till, cover crops and leaving residue on the soil surface to reduce crusting. This allows more water to be infiltrated into the soil, decreasing runoff and reducing the formation of ruts and gullies.
Expand Forest Growth
Eighty percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity lives in forests. Fifteen percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. are absorbed by forests each year. Two acres of forest can provide enough oxygen for more than 500 people each year. Trees also help to cool our environment and not to mention the wind breaks that help protect our homes.
ADDITIONAL HISTORY
History of the Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District
Dust Bowl
Rising wheat prices in the 1910s and 1920s and increased demand for wheat from Europe during World War I encouraged farmers to plow up millions of acres of native grassland to plant wheat, corn and other row crops. But as the United States entered the Great Depression, wheat prices plummeted. In desperation, farmers tore up even more grassland in an attempt to harvest a bumper crop and break even. Crops began to fail with the onset of drought in 1931, exposing the bare, over-plowed farmland. Without deep-rooted prairie grasses to hold the soil in place, it began to blow away. Eroding soil led to massive dust storms and economic devastation in the Southern Plains, Kansas and Nebraska.
Soil Erosion / Soil Conservation Service / Natural Resource Conservation Service
On September 13, 1933, the Soil Erosion Service was formed in the Department of the Interior, with Hugh Bennett as chief. Hugh Bennett is considered the father of soil conservation in the United States. The service was transferred to the Department of Agriculture on March 23, 1935, and was shortly thereafter combined with other USDA units to form the Soil Conservation Service. Hugh Bennett continued as chief until his retirement in 1952. As part of the Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994, the agency was renamed the Natural Resources Conservation Service during the tenure of Chief Paul Johnson from Iowa.
As a bridge between the federal government and local landowners, the establishment of soil conservation districts across the United States was proposed. By 1938, 22 states passed legislation allowing landowners to form voluntary soil conservation districts. In 1939, the Iowa General Assembly enacted similar legislation and created the State Soil Conservation Committee (later the Department of Soil Conservation) to serve as an agency of the state. Since 1986, the Department of Soil Conservation has been a division within the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The name was changed to the Division of Soil Conservation and Water Quality in 2015.
Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District
Leslie J. Nickle (Warren County Farm Bureau / Iowa State University Extension county agent), who came to Warren County in 1928 was instrumental in creating awareness of our soil erosion problem and encouraged people in the county to take positive steps to solve it. The Warren County Planning committee, organized in 1935-36, made a serious study of the land resources within the county and grouped the soils and carefully worked out recommended crop rotations for each group. In 1943 this committee recommended the organization of a soil district under the Iowa districts law. Petitions were circulated in September and October of 1943, of which 709 land owners signed. These petitions were filed with State Soil Conservation Committee on December 12th, 1943.
Following a public hearing on January 12th, 1944, the state committee ordered a referendum and election to be held on January 29th, 1944. There were 299 votes cast in favor of the district and 3 against. J.E Hatch of Virginia township was elected commissioner for a six year term. W. Herbert Hastie of Greenfield township was elected commissioner for a four year term and Lewis P. Mead of Belmont Township of Belmont township for a two year term. On February 5th, 1944 these district commissioners met and legally formed the Warren County Soil Conservation District, receiving their charter from the state on February 10th, 1944.
These three district commissioners were the governing body of the district an it was their responsibility to set the policies and supervise the soil conservation work in the county. A memorandum of understanding was signed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture by then chairman J.E Hatch on March 28th, 1944 requesting assistance from the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. Clay C. Barnett was assigned as Warren County’s first District Conservationist.
On Thursday, October 9th, 1947, the first All-Iowa Soil Conservation Field Day was held on the G.D. Bellman farm in West Lincoln township. This first-of-a-kind event attracted an estimated 30,000 people to witness the transformation of the Bellman farm in ONE DAY. This was the result of planning from various government agencies and the backing of the Des Moines Register and Tribune and the Indianola Record-Herald. All types of soil conservation practices were demonstrated, including the filling of huge gullies, the building of a gully control structure, 8,500 feet of terraces, several diversion terraces, shaping and seeding of 10,000 square yards of gully banks, 10 acres of pasture was renovated and 340 rods of new fence were put in. Improvements were made around the barn lots by filling in low places and diverting water runoff from areas were ditches had formed. Not all the work was completed in one day. Bull dozers and other machines worked another week to finish all the projects that were started that first day. An open house was held on September 27th, 1951, four years after the first field day. The visitors found all the soil conservation practices established on the farm, now operated by Robert Bellman to be of excellent shape.
Pictures from the “All-Iowa Soil Conservation Field Day along with 258 other historical pictures and documents of the Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District were archived in the Iowa Heritage Digital Collection for the public to access in 2019 (75th Anniversary of the district). You can view this collection HERE.
The Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District is one of 100 districts in Iowa. Each of these districts are governed by five elected commissioners who serve a four year term. A Soil & Water Conservation District commissioner is elected as a Non-Partisan candidate in the general election. Commissioners receive no salary and only receive reimbursement for expenses incurred while serving the district. Chapter 161A of the Iowa Code empowers and explains the work conducted by the districts and commissioners.
