In celebration of Earth Week, the public was invited to check out the newly constructed wetland area at the Des Moines Area Community College Dallas County Farm in Adel on Wednesday. 

The new wetland was completed in January 2023 thanks to partnerships from Iowa Agriculture Alliance (IAWA), the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS), Dallas County, Polk County Utilities and Ducks Unlimited as well as a contribution of $140,000 from Prairie Meadows. This project is meant to capture water from the 346 acres of mostly tile-drained cropland from the North Raccoon watershed, reducing the water’s nitrate levels by roughly 40-90-percent along with giving DMACC agribusiness students hands-on experience maining the farm wetland. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig was one of the speakers at the event and he says they are looking to build as many as 30 wetland farms a year. 

“I like to emphasize that these things don’t just happen automatically. They take a lot of hard work. And you know, what we’re doing across the state is just trying to replicate this, right. We’re finding landowners that are interested. And then you seek the partnerships that it takes to build them.”

The DMACC Dallas County farm also uses its 562-acre farm for soybean, corn, pasture, hay ground, as well as cow/calf and swine operations.