Adams County Iowa

By now, hopefully you’ve seen the new “ac” brand mark around town, on the new website (www.adamscountyiowa.com), and on merchandise. We’ve now added the tagline “always creative”. Perhaps you’re asking yourself, “Adams County – always creative? Are we?” You bet we are. Let me give you a few examples to think about. Most of us would agree, I think, that we’re a rural, agricultural area. You might then ask, “How is that creative?” Let’s look at some of the creative ways agriculture is making its way through Adams County.

The Southern Iowa Forage and Livestock Committee (SIFLC) was formed to study alternatives to row crop production on highly erodible land. SIFLC conducts demonstrations to utilize forages as one alternative. They facilitate learning events on topics which include forage suitability, fertilizer alternatives, forage management systems, fencing alternatives, water systems, livestock management in rotational grazing systems, etc. This gives producers with highly erodible, marginal land the opportunity to see alternative ways for profitable production.   SIFLC is developing a new project which will take environmental education and practical land stewardship directly to future land managers in high schools and colleges throughout the region. This education comes at a critical time in the career preparation of future land managers. Now that’s creative.

The Adams County Steer & Heifer Carcass Futurity project looks for ways to transition local cow/calf producers into retaining ownership of their calves until they reach slaughter weight in an effort to put more dollars into producer’s pockets. They provide feedlot and carcass performance data for evaluating herd genetics. They offer a creative, user-friendly financing program for local producers to have calves custom fed in local feedlots. They compare the economics of retained ownership versus selling feeder calves to encourage more cattle feeding in Southwest Iowa as a value-added, rural development measure to both cattle and locally-grown feeds. Now that’s creative.

In 2007 POET joined the creative spirit of Adams County. At POET they use the creativity that comes from common sense to deliver a new bounty of American energy from the eternal bounty of the American Heartland. With hard work, imagination and discipline, the people of POET have replaced hundreds of millions of barrels of imported oil with clean, renewable domestic energy while bringing hundreds of millions of dollars back to the American economy. POET is a leader in the development of cellulosic ethanol with its strategy of using corn cobs as feedstock for the process. Now that’s creative.

Adams County agriculturalists are becoming more involved in the creative process, not only on the supply-side, but also on the use of by-products as feed for cattle and other livestock production. While the growth is both challenging and exciting,  it amplifies the need not only for education for livestock producers, but opens the way for development of entrepreneurial companies who can provide the resources and technical expertise to producers who don’t have the time, staff, or financing to do the research themselves. These new companies are bridging the informational highway as they take lessons learned in the country with the feedyards discussing needs, opportunities, and concerns and deliver that message back to suppliers so that systems and technology can be tweaked to deliver a better product to today’s producers.   Adams County entrepreneurs have opened new doors and created easy access for those producers. Now that’s creative.

As the consumer becomes much more savvy than they used to be and demand a more consistent eating experience, the beef industry continues to evolve into branded beef supply chains, and genetics are recognized as the most powerful quality control tool available. Adams County entrepreneurs are developing cutting edge opportunities for local cattle growers to keep ahead of the curve and increase their economic opportunities in this changing economy. Now that’s creative. 

These are just a few stories of how Adams County is “always creative”. In my next column we will discuss other ways that Adams County is making a name for itself as a creative community. Meanwhile, if you know of other creative agriculture experiences throughout the county, feel free to make a comment. Meanwhile, think about ways you can make a positive, creative effect in our community . . . Adams County . . . always creative.