What does Earth Day mean to me?

Today is Earth Day.  For some this means they might clean up a ditch or plant a tree, but for me, it makes me think of all the things my family and I, as well as other farmers, do every day to keep my family, my community, and my environment healthy and strong everyday.

To celebrate I'd like to pass along some interesting facts about how farmers are continually being stewards of the land:

• Iowa farmers used conservation tillage on nearly 60 percent of planted acres in 2008, up from 30 percent in 1989. (Conservation Technology Information Center)  My family and I use conservation tillage practices such as no till.
• The latest National Resource Inventory (released by the Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service) show that America's farmers and ranchers care for the land, and through their actions the environment has continually improved over the past 50 years, while at the same time farm and ranch productivity has dramatically increased.
• Iowa farmers have more than 611,000 acres enrolled in the continuous, targeted Conservation Reserve Program, more than any other state.  (Farm Service Agency)  My family and I have acres enrolled in CRP and the Wetlands programs.