Clayton County Soil and Water Conservation District announces awards for 2025

The Clayton Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) recognized the outstanding conservation efforts of local farm families during their December 11, 2025, awards banquet at the Osborne Conservation Center near Elkader. This year’s award winners showcase a variety of conservation systems. Each recipient provides an outstanding example of what we can do to protect the natural resources that we enjoy in northeast Iowa.

Scott Hilgerson

Scott and Suzy Hilgerson received the Owner-Operator Award for the Clayton SWCD. Their farm is located along Highway 128 in Read Township northeast of Elkader. Scott operates three hundred and eighty acres of cropland and has been a dairy farmer for over forty years. The Hilgersons installed a new pond in 2015 and buffered the pool area with over three acres of native grasses and pollinators. Their crop rotation includes corn and hay, some of the steepest slopes are protected by a stripcropping system and the original contour lines have been in place for over thirty years. Scott uses a no-till planting system and seeds cover crops each fall following harvest. The transition to no-till wasn’t smooth, he first experimented with no-till in 2012 and swore he would never do it again. After attending a soil health workshop in Monona in 2020, Scott modified his planter to increase the down pressure on the planting units. He’s had success with the system and even utilizes no-till on his continuous corn acres.

Hilgerson Owner-Operator: Commissioner Mark Glawe with Scott Hilderson

Hilgerson Family: Scott Hilgerson with his children and parents. Scott has pride his farming operation is a family affair.

Dave Monroe and Derk Radloff

Dave and Linda Monroe & Derk and Emily Radloff were selected for recognition in the Landlord/Tenant Division. This division highlights the cooperation necessary to achieve the common goal of conserving our natural resources. The Monroe farm includes about two hundred and fifty acres of cropland and pasture south of Luana. Derk Radloff has operated the farm for five years. He rotates corn, soybeans and hay and uses a no-till planting system. Derk’s beef cattle graze the pasture. He typically seeds cover crops on soybean stubble and the corn acres where he chops silage or bales stalks. Dave completed his first terrace project in 1992 and was active during the Silver Creek Watershed Project. He reshaped two acres of grassed waterways, stabilized two eroding streambanks and built over 13,000 feet of terraces. Derk’s use of no-till and cover crops complements the structural practices completed by Dave and ensures that very little soil ever leaves the farm.

Monroe-Radloff Landlord-Tenant: Derk Radloff, Dave and Linda Monroe, Commissioner Rob Sass

Paul Carroll

The Clayton SWCD’s New Cooperator Award was presented to Paul and Andrea Carroll. Paul operates over four hundred acres of cropland near Pike’s Peak south of McGregor. Paul rotates corn and soybeans utilizing no-till and plants cover crops each fall following harvest. In 2025, he retained sixty acres of cereal rye and harvested the grain in August. The objective is to lengthen the crop rotation and improve soil health. Hay acres provide forage for the Carroll’s beef cattle. Twenty acres of fragile slopes were seeded to permanent cover and entered into the Conservation Reserve Program. Paul continues a tradition of conservation work; his father Mike completed an extensive system of terraces and was the Clayton SWCD’s owner/operator of the year in 1979.

Carroll New Cooperator: Paul and Andrea Carroll with Commissioner Tina Troester

Clayton SWCD Windbreak Award

Rod and Jill Kulper received the 2025 Clayton SWCD Windbreak Award. Their windbreak is located in Mallory Township southeast of Garber. In 2007, the Kulpers planted rows of Norway Spruce, White Pine and shrubs and entered the area into CRP. The windbreak protects their farmstead from winter winds and adds beauty and diversity to their property. Their work to maintain the windbreak is evident in the outstanding growth and appearance of the trees.'

Kulper Windbreak: Rod and Jill Kulper with Commissioner Gerry Ommen

Woodland Owner of the Year

The 2025 Woodland Owner of the Year Award was presented to Travis Anderson. Travis’ farm is located in Boardman township northwest of Elkader near Big Spring. The property is a mix of cropland and trees with a stream flowing through the woodland. Travis has undertaken a series of projects to add diversity and wildlife habitat to thirty acres of timber. The stream is protected with a filter strip and a riparian buffer. Travis’ first project involved planting fifty trees and installing tubes to protect the seedlings. He’s expanded his work each year and his latest project included over two thousand five hundred shrubs. District Forester Dave Asche noted, “There are landowners with bigger woodlands, but there are few that match Travis’ passion for improving what he has”.

Anderson Woodland: Tammy Smith and Travis Anderson with DNR District Forester Dave Asche

Other Honorees

On September 18^th, forty-four students from five local high schools gathered at the Osborne Pond near Elkader for the 49^th annual Clayton Soil & Water Conservation District soil judging contest. Participants judged soil profiles, tested their pacing ability and flagged contour lines. Individual and team winners were recognized at this year’s banquet.

Bernard Hanson served as a Clayton SWCD Commissioner for over twenty-four years. Awards in his name are presented to the top individual soil judge and pacing contest winners. Tyce Zittergruen from the Central FFA was the top individual soil judge for 2025. Cortlyn Grawe from Starmont placed first in the pacing contest. Zane Embretson, Caden Fette, Owen Walz and Tyce Zittergruen were the first-place soil judging team from Central. Halie Shepley from Starmont took first place in the contour layout contest.

Tyce Zittergeuen Central FFA with Commissioner Travis Anderson

Central FFA Soil Judging Team: Commissioner Tina Troester with Central FFA Students Tyce Zittergruen, Owen Walz, Caden Fette, and Zane Embretson

This year marked the seventy-second annual awards banquet for the Clayton Soil and Water Conservation District. Current commissioners include Mark Glawe, Gerry Ommen, Robert Sass, Tina Troester and Travis Anderson. Assistant Commissioners are Ron Kaiser and Agnes Kenney. While the commissioners honor selected nominees each year, they celebrate the combined stewardship efforts of landowners and farm operators throughout Clayton County.