Eastern Iowa Farmer Spring 2017

managing your soil
eastern iowa farmer photo / brooke taylor
“If you look at Iowa, it’s
a collection of different
geologies. There’s
driftless country,
there’s really rolling
hills, there’s some
really steep slopes,
and there’s some
really flat ground.”
here,” she said.
From her house, which sits just west of
the Mississippi River, she can look out
over the vista and recount memory after
memory. Swimming in the sand pit after
baling hay. Spearing carp, shooting BB
guns, racing cars and forking silage out of
the silos.
She knew she wanted to farm since she
was 5 years old. Today she raises cattle
and a cow/calf herd and grows corn,
beans, oats and hay. She also does a good
sweet corn business by word of mouth.
She farmed alongside her parents, Larry
and Shirley Peterson. And now her son
Aaron, a senior at Northeast High School,
farms with her.
Much of her ground is steeply sloped
and on high bluffs. Because of that she is
constantly vigilant about the effect rain,
wind and snow are having on the landscape,
and she works hard to keep the
precious topsoil intact.
Her proximity to the river means she
contends with wetlands. She also farms
some sandy soil on which “you can see
every wet spot,” she said.
Between the high bluffs and low val-
— ken wacha
leys in her agricultural landscape, McCulley
employs many different strategies for
maintenance and productivity. Making the
rounds of some of her fields, which are
all in the Sabula area, she explained her
philosophy: “Take care of the land, and
the land will take care of you.”
Farms like McCulley’s illustrate the
Peterson Farm Bros.
clinton-Jackson county dairy banquet | april 1, 2017 | pearson hall, maquoketa
sErving: 6-8 pm prograM: 7:30 pm EntErtainMEnt: 8:00 pm
tickEts: adults $20 in advance, $25 at the door • kids 5-12 $10 in advance, $15 at the door
drawing for door prizEs aftEr EntErtainMEnt — EacH faMily attEnding rEcEivEs a frEE dairy product
Clinton-Jackson Dairy Association
tickets available from any dairy association member
randy & ElainE franck / 659-9466 • JEff & lisa Holtz / 652-4480 • dwain & BarB kilBurg / 872-3788
spring 2017 | Eastern Iowa Farmer 61