Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2018

WHY FARMERS MATTER
calls from around the
country from people
interested in getting a
chunk of that well-maintained
dirt.
For Ruden, the hard
part was giving up work
with the Abbey’s prize
black Angus herd.
“I really miss them,” he
said.
The monks started renting
their 2,000 acres of
cropland to two farmers,
Charles McCullough and
Kenny Hosch, on a cashrent
basis. In exchange
for use of that dirt, the
renters must also follow
Dave Ruden’s life work
combines agriculture
and conservation.
EASTERN IOWA FARMER
PHOTO / BROOKE TAYLOR
strict covenants limiting
anhydrous, Roundup and
genetically-modified crop
use. Ruden explained that
he often serves as a liaison
between the monks
and the outside world, a
buffer of sorts.
Speaking of buffers,
conservation practices are
evident everywhere in the
farm — contours, riparian
buffers, grass strips,
prairie patches. There are
800 acres of cover crops
on the abbey grounds.
They’re experimenting
with pollinator plots.
Meanwhile, the
Dubuque County SWCD
is holding evening classes
on cover crops. Ruden
said there’s definitely a
learning curve to them.
Some farmers are working
with planting in the
middle of a rye cover
crop field. Others crimp
the rye down but let it lie
in the fields.
All this builds up organic
material and the capacity
to retain nitrogen
in the soil year-round.
“Most guys are treating
plants,” Ruden said. “If
you treat the soil like a
living thing, the plants’ll
take care of themselves.”
He acknowledges that
high machinery costs
can crimp cover crop
plantings but argues that
it’s worth it whenever
possible.
“The only resource
you can’t replace is your
soil,” he said.
Driving the abbey
property shows the scale
of the place. Besides the
cropland, there’s 1,400
acres in timber. Some
of that timber goes into
Trappist caskets, which
have brought the monks
a new income.
The monks started out
with just 500 acres, along
with a cow and a mule,
Ruden explains, but they
bought up surrounding
lands from fellow Irish
immigrants when many
left to serve in the Civil
War. The land is steeped
with stories and tradition:
on one country road
corner, a perfectly maintained
(and regularly used)
ball diamond takes up the
“richest land on the farm,”
Ruden joked. Two patches
of trees with mowed
benches like a park rise
from corn and bean fields.
That’s where the monks
used to stop to water their
mules, Ruden said.
“As long as I’m here,
they won’t be plowed,”
he said.
Catfish Creek starts on
the New Melleray property
and flows through
Swiss Valley Park, the
Mines of Spain, ag land
and urban development
before meeting the
Mississippi. As such, it
provided an opportunity
for the city of Dubuque,
Dubuque County and the
soil and water district
to work together. The
watershed has a generous
75 percent costshare on
conservation practices,
even when cash is not so
flush for conservation in
many areas. It is helping
new home builders aerate
their soil and rebuild it to
hold water.
They just agreed to
hire a specialist who will
work on ag practices, doing
door-to-door outreach
to farmers. Always energetic,
Ruden pauses for
a moment. “I just know
we’re missing people,”
he said. n
eifarmer.com FALL 2018 | EASTERN IOWA FARMER 105