Three Iowa farmers urge peers to adopt no-till and cover crops

Three full-time Iowa corn and soybean farmers—Matt Bormann, Zack Smith and James Hepp—known as the Lobe Rangers after the Des Moines Lobe where they farm, urge peers and leaders to adopt no-till and cover crops. Each has used those practices for well over a decade. In fall 2023, after rain stopped afternoon work, Bormann mixed a drink in his equipment shed and started a Snapchat group that grew to 16 by 8 p.m. and then to 25. Two are Republicans and one is an Independent. Backgrounds include selling fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, crop insurance and equipment, ag-industry board roles and four-year ag degrees. All three have lost loved ones to cancer. Hepp cites a generation issue: farmers near 30 want such practices, but grandfathers near 80 and fathers near 60 keep control, so the next generation may not run the farm until 60. Bormann says farmers should shape nutrient rules they will face: "We know this stuff works. There's too much denial in this business when we know there are truths that can make farming better. This isn't rocket surgery." He said he loves botching that quote on purpose as Hepp and Smith snickered. EPA formed a Gulf hypoxia task force in 1997; a 2008 plan covered 12 Mississippi River states; Iowa's 2013 strategy sought a 41% nonpoint nitrogen cut, and about 90% of Iowa's Mississippi River pollution is nonpoint. CONTESTED: none found. Only left-rated coverage appears in the record.