SWOF Farmer Spotlight: Tom Adam
This month, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF) is spotlighting the work of Tom Adam, a participating farmer from southeast Iowa. Tom’s family has farmed their land in Keokuk County, Iowa since 1852. He is very involved with several agricultural organizations and heard about the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund through his work on the Iowa Soybean Association Board of Directors. He currently serves on the executive committee as the secretary.
Tom enrolled with SWOF in May of 2021 and has added acreage each year. He has nearly eliminated tillage on his operation and has added small grain cover crops into his rotation. In his first year, he double cropped with winter wheat and soybeans, moved to soybeans into an oat cover crop the following year, and is planting corn into a winter wheat cover crop this spring. We recently chatted with Tom to learn more about the success he’s seeing in his fields as a result of these practice changes.
One of Tom’s no-till fields of oat cover crops.
“Several years ago, I reluctantly agreed to try it on 10 acres. But I quickly added acres once I realized what a good thing it was. If you treat cover crops like a weed, it will be a weed to you. If you treat it like something that can benefit you, you will figure out a way to make it work for you.”
- Tom Adam, participating SWOF farmer
How has your soil health and productivity been affected after implementing SWOF-supported conservation practices?
It’s been working out really well for me. It improves the yields substantially following the wheat, especially when you’ve got your third year of beans. People frequently ask me, ‘Oh, your yields must fall off a lot?’ No. They do not. It’s the best year after it’s been that wheat—the wheat double crop year—that next year the beans do really well. Adding the small grains into the rotation helps in preventing several pests and diseases.
Tom Adam rests in lush oat covers growing in one of his no-till fields in southeast Iowa.
One of Tom’s no-till fields in southeast Iowa.
What advice do you have for other farmers thinking of trying these practices for the first time?
Start small and talk to a lot of farmers that have done it for several years. Talk to people that have been successful at it, not the ones who haven’t. If you have a bad attitude going into it, or are just doing it to check a box that you did it, you probably won’t like it. Honestly, I kind of had that attitude several years ago when they came out with the first cost-share program for this. At that time, I only knew one other person that had ever done a cover crop, so I reluctantly agreed to try it on 10 acres. But I quickly added acres once I realized what a good thing it was. If you treat cover crops like a weed, it will be a weed to you. If you treat it like something that can benefit you, you will figure out a way to make it work for you.
Given your family’s history in farming, do you see these conservation practices as an investment in that legacy?
Oh, certainly. Soil health is very important. I think the changes we’ve made through SWOF are helping with that, and to hold the soil in place. Soil erosion was something that was very important to my dad. He did a lot with crop rotations and oats. Back when we used to chisel farm, we did that on all the ground because we didn’t have GMOs and the ability to no-till like we do today. He would put a lot of the ground in small grains to help with erosion, and I guess now I’ve kind of gone back to small grains a bit. But yes, one day my son will be farming it all. And he’s a district conservationist for NRCS so he’s a great resource on all this, too. He’ll be able to keep these practices going and take things even further.
If you’ve been thinking about trying or expanding a conservation practice, such as reduced tillage, implementing a cover crop, or adding a crop rotation, enrollment in the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund is open for 2024. By enrolling your acres in our program, you’ll receive agronomic support and earn financial incentives for the environmental outcomes generated from your on-farm conservation efforts. Get started today by signing up for a free estimate!