Tama Soil & Water Conservation District

06/11/2026

A little late this week, but welcome to Toolbox 🧰 Tuesday! Here we explore those incredible, indispensable tools your Conservation Toolbox can't do without! In honor of National Pollinator Month, we're spending June exploring pollinator tools you might consider adding to your Toolbox.

"If you build it, he will come." How more Iowa can you get than that? 😉 And making space for pollinators, too, is all about location, location, location.

Pollinator Partnership and ISU Extension & Outreach recommend these location elements:
🐛 Find a plot at least 3' x 6' that gets 6+ hours of sun each day. Insects such as butterflies and pollinators are cold-blooded and depend on the sun to warm their bodies. Also, the plants on which butterflies and pollinators depend generally grow better in full sun.
🐝 When planning for a much larger area, plan to clump plants of the same species together.
🦋 Prep the area by removing or smothering existing lawn and other vegetation.
🪲 Enhance hard-packed soil with compost.
💧 Plan on space for some type of water feature, even if it's just a birdbath with rocks for perching, a container of wet sand in the ground or a puddling area for butterflies. Any open containers should have their water changed 2-3 times per week to thwart mosquito breeding.
🪨 Plan on space for large rocks. On cloudy or cool days, they provide a basking spot to help warm butterflies for flight.
🏡 Nearby trees, shrubs, fences and buildings can provide protection from prevailing winds.

📸 National Wildlife Federation (top) and USDA-NRCS (below)

06/05/2026

Happy National Dairy Month! 🧀🧈🍦🥛Meet Robbie and Shannon Dygert, thirteenth-generation dairy farmers of Dygert Farms in Palatine Bridge, New York. Their operation has been in the family for over 300 years! https://www.farmers.gov/blog/fridays-on-farm-diversifying-tricentennial-dairy-farm

06/05/2026

Contact us for more information about the Streamside Buffer Cost Share Program!

06/05/2026

What better way to celebrate National Prairie Day than by visiting one?!?

Join Iowa Prairie Network for a visit to Irvine Prairie on Monday, June 8! Come enjoy the prairie with neighbors and friends; all ages are welcome! Partners and guest speakers will lead walks on topics that showcase different aspects of Irvine Prairie. Additionally, IPN invites you to participate in a read-along of John Madson’s book Where the Sky Began. This is the book that Cathy Irvine says inspired her gifting of Irvine Prairie. Connect with the Tallgrass Prairie Center on Facebook and visit tallgrassprairiecenter.org . Questions may be directed to [email protected] . All walks begin at 6:00 p.m. near the parking area by the Irvine Prairie rock. Please come prepared for the weather. Water, closed-toe shoes, and long pants are recommended. In the event of inclement weather, the walk will be canceled.

06/03/2026

No, not a photo from The Dust Bowl. This is from southeastern South Dakota less than a month ago. Strong winds and severe storms this spring stirred up soil from freshly worked farm fields and left a haze in the air.

A wall of dirt advanced with the May 17 storm in the Mount Vernon area of southeastern South Dakota as the tri-state region was under a tornado watch. For about five minutes, the sky went black. The storm left a layer of dirt over everything, but just a quarter inch of rain. That was valuable top soil, full of nutrients for freshly planted crops.

Kipp Hinrichs and other farmers are trying new things. They’re choosing not to plant their fields to cash crops that require high dollar inputs and bring ever smaller returns. Instead, they’re seeding the land back to the plants that grew before settlers began to turn dirt with plows. Read more at https://agupdate.com/tristateneighbor/news/crop/article_8d198a6a-153f-4c29-a306-796ced955acf.html

📸 photo by Colleen Stegenga

06/03/2026

Tama SWCD is excited to announce the runner-up in this year's Stewardship Week Coloring Contest 🎉 Parker Fish of Miss Lacy's Preschool in Toledo! 🎊 Parker is the proud recipient of a $10 prize from Tama SWCD. Way to go, Parker! 👏

The contest winner will be announced later this month after award presentation.

This year’s nationwide Stewardship Week theme celebrates the incredible power of soil to support life in all its forms. Soil is not just the ground we walk on. It is the starting point for healthy food, clean water, thriving habitats, and resilient communities. From backyard gardens to forests and city parks, everything begins with what is beneath our feet.

Soil does a lot more than grow plants. It holds water, cycles nutrients, and provides homes for billions of living organisms that help keep nature in balance. It keeps roots in place, helps prevent flooding, and supports wildlife and people alike. The trees in our neighborhoods, the food on our tables, and the natural places we love all depend on healthy soils.

Conservation districts across the country, like Tama SWCD, work every day to protect this vital resource. Through education, technical support, and local partnerships, they help landowners and communities keep soil healthy, productive, and resilient. Districts also provide free educational resources to schools, families, and community groups to inspire the next generation of soil stewards and help people of all ages connect with conservation in meaningful ways. Whether it is helping farmers manage erosion or supporting school gardens in town, conservation districts lead the way in caring for the land.

When we take care of soil, we are taking care of everything it supports. That is why soil is where it all begins.

06/02/2026

It's Toolbox 🧰 Tuesday! Here we explore those incredible, indispensable tools your Conservation Toolbox can't do without! In honor of National Pollinator Month, we're spending June exploring pollinator tools you might consider adding to your Toolbox.

Did you know one out of every three bites of food we eat relies on pollinators doing their thing in order for our food to grow? Most of these food-pollinators are insects. Unfortunately, bees (colony and solitary), butterflies and moths, bats, birds and beetles are facing challenges due to habitat loss, disease, parasites and pesticides.

This week, ponder the trees and shrubs in your yard and how pollinators feel about them 🤔 Diversify! Iowa DNR suggests taking out the yew hedge that flanks your yard. Perhaps consider replacing it with a variety of native flowering shrubs and trees. Include species with different heights and blooming times. Grouping at least eight different species together attracts an even greater number and type of species.

According to University of Iowa's Bee Campus USA initiative:
🌳 Trees like oaks often provide the habitat needed for reproduction of threatened pollinator species like butterflies and moths. Oaks support at least 534 species of butterflies and moths!
🍒 Other important tree species include willow, cherry, plum, maple, box elder, hickory and elm which support over 400 butterfly and moth species.
🦋 Important native shrubs include hawthorn, redbud, elderberry, chokecherry, plum, highbush cranberry, serviceberry, and arrowwood.

06/01/2026

05/29/2026

We round out American Wetlands Month with this news from nearby Belle Plaine, Iowa. An announcement from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) on May 11 will directly impact the citizens of Belle Plaine, as more funding for the Belle Plaine Wellfield Wetland Restoration is on the way.

The City of Belle Plaine will receive an IDALS investment of $410,000 to be used for Phase II of the restoration project. “This project continues ongoing efforts to improve drinking water quality and strengthen drought resilience for the community. The restored wetland will include a sediment forebay for pre-treatment and is designed to treat runoff from a 385-acre drainage area, including large storm events. In addition to improving water quality, the project will restore a historic wetland area and provide valuable wildlife habitat,” the release states.

Read more at https://www.swiowanewssource.com/news/article_df5032f0-4dec-5694-9d33-079792b38cab.html