Latest News

Montgomery County Family Preserves Pasture and Traditions with Support from CSIF

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – July 7, 2017 – Too many wet and muddy spring calving seasons on pasture motivated John McCarthy to explore the idea of calving under roof. In 2014, he contacted the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) for siting assistance with a monoslope calving barn; he wanted to ensure that the...

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CSIF News Briefs – June 2017

Livestock Farming Appeals to Iowa Youth The future of agriculture depends on the involvement of the next generation and the continued success of the livestock and poultry industries. According to a recent survey of Iowa FFA members, 89 percent of students who reported their desire to farm indicated they intend to raise livestock. Read the...

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Photo Contest Guidelines – 2017

Photo Contest Guidelines-2017 ANNOUNCEMENT: The Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers will be sponsoring their fourth annual “Farming is a Family Affair” photo contest in celebration of Iowa’s dedicated farm families. Entries will be accepted July 1 through July 22 and the voting period will begin on July 23 and end August 1 at 5 p.m....

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CSIF Sponsoring Fourth Annual “Farming is a Family Affair” Photo Contest

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – June 30, 2017 – To celebrate Iowa’s livestock farm families, the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) is launching the fourth annual “Farming is a Family Affair” photo contest from July 1 through August 1, 2017 through CSIF’s Facebook page. “A little over 97 percent of Iowa farms are family...

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Journey of Exploration in Iowa Agriculture

By Emma Wilson, CSIF Communications Intern My first year at Iowa State I majored in Agricultural Exploration, a major allowing students to explore the options in agriculture with endless opportunities to find your place. The past few months with the Coalition has been quite similar. With a jam-packed schedule for the month of June, I’ve...

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Green Farmstead Partner Program
CSIF Workshop Highlights Value of Planting Trees on Livestock Farms

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – June 28, 2017 – Since 2009, more than 66,000 trees have been planted on Iowa livestock farms through the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) Green Farmstead Partner Program (GFP). To further highlight the value of planting trees on livestock farms, the Coalition recently hosted a first-of-its-kind Green Farmstead Partner...

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Frazier Nursery Spotlight Video

John and Alex Frazier, owners of Frazier Nursery near Vinton offer their skills and expertise for farmers looking to add trees for snow deposition, erosion control or just to beautify the landscape around their feedlots and livestock barns. “We’re different from other nurseries because we are specializing in windbreaks specifically. We certainly do sell other...

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Livestock Farming Appeals to Iowa Youth

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – June 14, 2017 – Iowa’s youth continues to have a strong interest in livestock farming according to the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF) recent survey of Iowa FFA members. Of the students who reported their desire to farm, 89 percent indicated they intend to raise livestock. The 2017 results...

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Wilcox Family of Cherokee County Presented with Good Farm Neighbor Award

Fourth generation farmer, Mark Wilcox, says he finds comfort in the stability of his family’s Century Farm near Marcus, Iowa where he and his wife, Sara, and youngest son, Joe, raise a 70-head milking herd of registered Holsteins and a little over 800 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa and mixed pasture. According to Mark, the...

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CSIF News Briefs – May 2017

Iowa Beef Industry Council Partners with Livestock Coalition We are pleased to announce the Iowa Beef Industry Council (IBIC) has been named the ninth member organization of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers (CSIF), a collaborative initiative dedicated to helping farm families raise livestock and poultry responsibly and successfully. Since 2004, CSIF has worked with...

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