Dean Suderman and wife Amy and their kids enjoy some bonding time in the tractor. Conservation has been almost as big a part of the Suderman heritage as the family farm itself.
In an age of instant gratification, Dean and Amy Suderman farm south of Hillsboro with an eye to long-term benefits.
Randy Windsor and Jim Cox have combined their interests as tenant and owner, respectively, to develop grass strips that provide cover for quail and other wildlife while covering land that rarely produces grain income, except in very wet years.
When Jim Cox looked at the quarter-section near Peabody inherited by his wife, Marilyn, from her father, Lawrence Eberle, he decided to manage it not only for crop productivity but also for wildlife productivity.
Lee and Arlene Rempel have built on a soil conservation program that began in 1942 with Lee’s father, Ernest. “You have to keep maintaining (the conservation works you build)” Lee said.
Lee and Arlene Rempel have been awarded the Continuation Award by the Marion County Soil Conservation District for their farm southwest of Peabody in a conservation program that began with Lee’s father, Ernest, in 1942.
Even though he isn’t a hunter, Joel Suderman wanted to do something to increase the quail population, which is down to about one-fourth of what it was 20 to 25 years ago. Suderman placed about 14 acres of grass “quail buffers” along various hedge rows.
Joel Suderman was an early convert in Marion County to no-till farming practices as a way to save his soil, and he remains an advocate for it.
But the project that led to his being named the winner of the very first Banker Award for protecting water quality in Marion County was really for the birds.
Business/Farm 
