More than 100 people packed The Mill in Iowa City in March to support the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust and listen to great music by folk legend Dave Moore and rising stars Steve and Michaela McLain. "The ACLU raised $24 million the week after Trump was elected," SILT Executive Director Suzan Erem told the crowd. "That's $24 million that didn't go to groups fighting hunger, homelessness, or even farmland protection for the future. The current polarization we are witnessing in America is sucking us dry spiritually, morally and financially." SILT was able to raise a record amount of funds [...]

The SILT/Awful Purdies collaboration of a music video about farm transfer was featured in a recent edition of Little Village Magazine in Johnson County. The video has sparked discussions across Iowa and a number of calls and emails to SILT asking how to protect land permanently. Interested in getting the word out in your community? Connect us with your local media. We'll be glad to talk!

[vc_row][vc_column width="1/2"][vc_column_text]An avalanche of land transfer is beginning in Iowa as people who've accumulated the most wealth in this nation's history pass it on to the next generation. But many "farm kids" have moved away from the land their families own, and look to housing developers* or the farmer** next door as likely buyers. This perfect storm is causing today's farm crisis, the result of which will determine what America's landscape, food system and public health will look like for centuries to come. In fewer than 5 minutes, SILT's first music video, illustrates this complicated issue and one permanent, multi-faceted solution [...]

Wittrig family establishes Iowa’s first sustainable food production conservation easement Pioneering arrangement will preserve 130 acres in perpetuity John Wittrig with his daughter Laura and long-time friend Tom Wahl on his 130 acres in Washington County now permanently protected to grow healthy food. 13 November 2017—John Wittrig and his family just made Iowa history. They’ve created the state’s first agricultural conservation easement permanently protecting 130 acres of their farm for sustainable food production, something only the newest land trust in Iowa offers. Wittrig grew up on the family farm in not far from Winfield, the town in which [...]

Former presidential appointee and Iowa legislator Paul Johnson explained at SILT's annual Land Protector Recognition Dinner on Nov. 16, that there are three things that make up our soil - clay, silt, and sand. Clay and sand are both extremely difficult to grow anything in, he said, but "SILT binds it all together." That's what SILT did that night, bringing together rural and urban, local food lovers, farmers, and environmentalists for a celebratory night honoring Lyle Luzum and his family from Calmar and John Wittrig and his family of Winfield. The Luzum Family from right Lyle, Sue, and [...]

Lyle and Sue Luzum of Calmar will be honored at the SILT Third Annual Land Protector Recognition and Dinner Nov. 16 at Embassy Suites in Des Moines, Reception: 5:30 pm Dinner 6:30. Lyle and Sue Luzum on the farm their family has farmed since 1873. Reserve NOW and Help Honor the Luzum Family (Interested in carpooling? Go here to get started.) The Luzum family donated their 170-acre heritage farm to SILT earlier this year, the largest such donation of its kind ever. The application and selection process for a new farmer is ongoing while the Luzums begin their [...]

Announcing their intention to place their farm under a SILT easement, Tom Wahl and Kathy Dice of Red Fern Farm in Wapello hosted nearly 30 people at the final SILT Showcase of the year. Tom and Kathy grow chestnuts, paw paws, persimmons and ever-bearing mulberries among other perennial crops. A SILT easement is a land protection agreement that attaches to the deed and requires all future owners of the land to use it for sustainable food production. "Our kids haven't shown any interest in taking over this farm," explained Kathy to the crowd, "but even if they did, I'd [...]

Developers, planners, and policymakers - learn how to build farms in your communities in a truly sustainable way, at the 10th annual Growing Sustainable Communities Conference, in Dubuque from Oct. 3-4. Developers and planners across the country are working together to build sustainable farms into housing developments. With a nonprofit land trust in the mix, developers can reap quick sales and high profits while also securing affordable, regional food production for generations to come with farms that can improve the quality of water, air, and life. Hear from a planner, a developer, and a nonprofit farm manager about how [...]

Aired throughout the country on NPR affiliates, The Secret Ingredient is hosted by food and farming activists and journalists Raj Patel, Tom Philpott, and Rebecca McInroy. SILT President Suzan Erem recorded this podcast with them in late 2016. Hear how SILT fits into the greater landscape of land reform in the country.