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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 MoreCSIF 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 MoreFrazier 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 MoreLivestock 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 MoreWilcox 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 MoreCSIF 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 MorePartnership 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 MoreJohn 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 MoreWhen 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 MoreLivestock Farmers Invited to Attend Windbreak Workshop June 20 at Fraizer Nursery in Vinton
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – May 18, 2017 – The Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) invites livestock farmers interested in establishing windbreaks on their farm to attend the ‘Green Farmstead Partner – Putting Down Roots on Your Livestock Farm’ workshop on June 20 at Frazier Nursery in Vinton. The Green Farmstead Partner program provides information...
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