Families in the KCII-listening area were recognized as farm environmental leaders at this year’s  Iowa State Fair.

The Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award seeks to acknowledge farmers who take voluntary actions to improve and protect the environment and the state’s natural resources while serving as leaders in the farming community. Since the creation of the award in 2012 more than 650 Iowa farm families have been recognized by the governor, lieutenant governor, Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Department of Natural Resources. This year’s awards recognized 89 families from the past two years. Among these winners are Earl B, Tanya and Jeromy Greiner and Jerry, Georgia, David and Julie Rice of Keokuk County, Kathy Dice and Tom Wahl from Red Fern Farm of Louisa County, Rodger and Karen Krogmeier of Jefferson County, Greg and Aimee Shepard of Henry County and Tim and Ethel Sieren of Green Iron Farms in Washington County.  These farm families use scientifically-proven practices like cover crops, wetlands, bioreactors and saturated buffers that support the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.