Work begins at a Page County farm bequeathed to INHF

Travelers or residents passing eastbound through Shenandoah, IA down 190^th St. may have noticed the noise and busy atmosphere of a hard day’s work on Boylan Farms. In fact, the work would have been hard to miss.

During the month of August, INHF and the tenant farmers at Boylan Farms were busy making improvements to the property, including two to homesteads. The homestead on the east side of the property suffered so much water damage and disrepair after nearly 20 years of vacancy that the team felt it was safer to remove the house After consulting with members of the Boylan family, the property’s team removed the east homestead. The west homestead remains, happily occupied by a tenant. However, a severely storm-damaged corn crib on the west homestead was removed. Siberian elms, a nonnative and invasive tree species, were removed and the team took out turf grass near both homesteads to make way for native prairies.

Why all the activity? In 2021 INHF became legal stewards of the Boylan family farm. Originally owned by Page County’s beloved Carl and Margie Boylan, the couple left the property to INHF upon their passing along with the responsibility to steward the land the Boylans loved.

“We’re taking the same approach to Boylan Farms as we do with every property, assessing what is needed for the health of the land.” said Kody Wohlers, Loess Hills Land Stewardship Director at INHF. “We want great partnerships with the community, the tenant farmers, and our neighbors.”

During their time on the farm, Carl and Margie invested deeply in sustainable farming practices. They utilized terraces, maintained grassed waterways, practiced no-till farming and kept 60-foot grass perimeters around their fields, all of which can support soil health, reduce runoff and erosion, and increase water retention.

The Boylans deeply valued wildlife and wild space as well as farming. Though most of their 1,243-acre property is used for agriculture, the Boylans also kept space enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and left 34 acres in woodland.

Before their passing, the Boylans took legal steps to protect their property’s future and bequeathed their beloved farm to INHF — an incredibly generous gift. With the land now under INHF’s care, their legacy of sustainable agriculture, wildlife conservation and soil health will enter a new chapter.

“We’re honoring the Boylan’s wishes,” said Wohlers. “They wanted to see more prairie. They wanted their farm to work with conservation.”

The work Page County residents saw Wohlers and his team completing through August is part of INHF’s duty to keep the Boylan’s wishes for their land front of mind. INHF will continue to work on projects that do just that.

Currently, a project is being implemented to support grassland restoration using rotational grazing. In partnership with the NRCS and one of Boylan Farms’ tenant farmers, the project will use cattle to enhance low-diversity grassland habitat. Cattle grazing each section will mimic the important relationships historically seen between grasslands and ungulates like bison. As part of this process, four paddocks will be established on 88 acres which will be converted to warm season pasture interseeded with forbs (flowering plants). Each of the four paddocks will cater to different varieties of grassland and grassland birds. Moving the cattle between paddocks will prevent overgrazing while reintroducing the benefits of grazing to the young grassland.

The rotational grazing project is just one of the many historic and future projects on Boylan Farms that have brought agriculture and conservation together.

“Boylan Farms is a great example of how we can blend agriculture and conservation. Both can support diversity and benefit all kinds of wildlife in the area.” Wohlers said about the Boylan’s legacy and the work still being done. “Our goal is always the same: to protect Iowa’s land, water and wildlife. We look at cover crops to hold water in the soil and filter nitrates. We prioritize native vegetation and support wildlife habitat. We’re always doing the best with what we have.”

Learn more about the Boylans and their farm here.