Latest News
CSIF Sponsoring Fourth Annual “Farming is a Family Affair” Photo Contest
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – June 30, 2017 – To celebrate Iowa’s livestock farm families, the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) is launching the fourth annual “Farming is a Family Affair” photo contest from July 1 through August 1, 2017 through CSIF’s Facebook page. “A little over 97 percent of Iowa farms are family...
Read More
Journey of Exploration in Iowa Agriculture
By Emma Wilson, CSIF Communications Intern My first year at Iowa State I majored in Agricultural Exploration, a major allowing students to explore the options in agriculture with endless opportunities to find your place. The past few months with the Coalition has been quite similar. With a jam-packed schedule for the month of June, I’ve...
Read More
CSIF Workshop Highlights Value of Planting Trees on Livestock Farms
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – June 28, 2017 – Since 2009, more than 66,000 trees have been planted on Iowa livestock farms through the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) Green Farmstead Partner Program (GFP). To further highlight the value of planting trees on livestock farms, the Coalition recently hosted a first-of-its-kind Green Farmstead Partner...
Read More
Frazier Nursery Spotlight Video
John and Alex Frazier, owners of Frazier Nursery near Vinton offer their skills and expertise for farmers looking to add trees for snow deposition, erosion control or just to beautify the landscape around their feedlots and livestock barns. “We’re different from other nurseries because we are specializing in windbreaks specifically. We certainly do sell other...
Read More
Livestock Farming Appeals to Iowa Youth
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – June 14, 2017 – Iowa’s youth continues to have a strong interest in livestock farming according to the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) recent survey of Iowa FFA members. Of the students who reported their desire to farm, 89 percent indicated they intend to raise livestock. The 2017 results...
Read More
Wilcox Family of Cherokee County Presented with Good Farm Neighbor Award
Fourth generation farmer, Mark Wilcox, says he finds comfort in the stability of his family’s Century Farm near Marcus, Iowa where he and his wife, Sara, and youngest son, Joe, raise a 70-head milking herd of registered Holsteins and a little over 800 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa and mixed pasture. According to Mark, the...
Read More
CSIF News Briefs – May 2017
Iowa Beef Industry Council Partners with Livestock Coalition We are pleased to announce the Iowa Beef Industry Council (IBIC) has been named the ninth member organization of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF), a collaborative initiative dedicated to helping farm families raise livestock and poultry responsibly and successfully. Since 2004, CSIF has worked with...
Read More
Partnership Spotlight: Frazier Nursery
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today!” -Frazier Nursery For 33 years, John Frazier’s career was in teaching, and although he fully enjoyed his time as an educator at Vinton-Shellsburg, he knew he was a farmer at heart. After retiring from teaching two years ago, John decided...
Read More
John McCarthy Family to Host Calving Barn Open House
Event to Highlight Environmental Safeguards and Animal Care WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – May 22, 2017 – Farmers interested in learning about the benefits of calving under roof are invited to attend an open house at the John McCarthy family farm, tour their new monoslope calving barn and enjoy a complimentary lunch on Thursday, June...
Read More
When Opportunity Knocks, Passion Responds
By Emma Wilson, CSIF Communications Intern As a true born and raised Iowan, this quote has always spoke to me: State of Iowa Slogan: Fields of Opportunities Growing up on the family farm, also known as my little slice of heaven, agriculture was and still is my whole world. From showing animals at fairs to...
Read More