EasternIowaFarmer_Fall2023

WATERSHED
resources to restoring deep
ditches on their new property.
He’s working to eliminate a
“gnarly, 15-foot ditch,” infested
with black locust trees.
Arenz is putting in water
breaks: building multiple sideways
spans of clean rock across
the ditch to disperse the water
and stop the ditching.
Since January, he’s worked
nearly daily on this and other
conservation projects on the
new farm. Though not an angler
himself, Arenz enjoys meeting
people who come to fish the
trout in Tete des Morts Creek.
“It’s been a good experience
for me, seeing other people
enjoy the stream, and I don’t
feel like it takes anything from
our farm,” he said.
Trout were introduced
decades ago, and today, fish are
thriving.
“It makes the ground
more valuable, more
cropable, and it’s not
subject to erosion.”
— JOHN ARENZ
“I like Tete des Morts today
much better than it was 60 years
ago,” Arenz said. “It’s prettier,
and there are great game fish.”
Conservation work also
brings downstream benefits.
Every summer, thousands of
square miles in the Gulf of
Mexico are unsuitable for life,
due to the tons of excess nutrients
that wash off farm fields
and down the Mississippi River.
Gulf fishermen and women find
their harvests and livelihoods
jeopardized by this pollution.
Upstream and locally,
farmers pay dearly for excess
inputs that get washed downstream
without being taken up
by crops. Increasingly heavy
rains wash away more precious
topsoil when conservation practices
are lax or nonexistent.
Arenz sees practical, financial
benefits as well.
“It has definitely been a benefit
to the ground,” he said. “It’s
made our ground more farmable,
whether certain fields stay
in CRP (Conservation Reserve
Program) or crops, there’s more
ground that is cropable, and
the last thing is, from a selfish
standpoint, it makes it a more
valuable farm.”
There are fewer ditches on
the farm, and structures that
control water flow increase its
future value as farmland.
“There’s a lot of work
already done,” he continued. “It
makes the ground more valuable,
more cropable, and it’s not
subject to erosion.”
Arenz sees an inherent value
in stewardship, and he knows
that every landowner has to
consider the situation on the
ground when implementing
conservation measures.
“Every farmer will have to
decide for him- or herself, what
reaches the benefit level that
tips to scale to cause them to
participate,” he said. “I just find
it very rewarding, as the individual
who will be the steward
of the land for the next 10 or 20
years… For people who bond
with their land, it gives you a
warm, fuzzy feeling.” n
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92 EASTERN IOWA FARMER | FALL 2023 eifarmer.com