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Faulty well may disrupt nonprofit’s Linn County Dows Farm operations
Feed Iowa First rents three acres for program geared toward underserved, emerging farmers on land slated for ‘agri-community’ development
Marissa Payne
Feb. 17, 2023 4:36 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS — Nonprofit Feed Iowa First may shut down operations on the slice of land it subleases on Linn County’s Dows Farm “agri-community” development for use by underserved farmers, as the county has no plans in the near future to replace a potentially failing well that provides water to the agricultural land and fuels farming.
County officials say the well’s condition is unfortunate, but the Board of Supervisors isn’t interested in funding a new well until it can firm up the long-term plan for the approximately 170-acre development that calls for a working farm, housing and conservation elements.
They don’t want to put money toward a well that may end up in the wrong spot once the whole project comes to fruition. It’s on county-owned land bordered by Mount Vernon Road on the south, Dows Road on the west and the Squaw Creek Ridge residential development on the northeast.
But those invested in bringing to life the agricultural portion of Dows Farm fear the consequences of Feed Iowa First being unable to stay on the land, and say it may jeopardize the county’s ability to attract a farmer in the future to realize the original vision of the agri-community.
Without a commitment to a working well by March 1, Feed Iowa First Executive Director Emmaly Renshaw said the organization will be forced to decommission operations, leaving the agri-community without a farmer. She asked for a new well to be installed by June.
“This decision would force underserved farmers off the Dows land and leave a gap in production and land remediation that could close the door for finding a long-term farmer,” Renshaw told supervisors Monday.
Feed Iowa First subleases a roughly three-acre portion of the overall approximately 40 acres slated to be used as farmland. That lease expires in October.
The nonprofit has been there since the spring of 2021, when it began work to transition the land from growing conventional crops to table food. The tract of land Feed Iowa First rents is home to its Equitable Land Access program, which allows land access to underserved farmers.
In 2022, the organization had four emerging farmers who are Black, Indigenous, people of color farming on this site. One farmer is looking to expand and be the only farmer on the three acres, and he’d potentially expand to 40 acres in the future, according to Renshaw. She asked the supervisors to consider renting the land to this farmer.
Over the last two years, Renshaw said this site has produced more than 25,000 pounds of culturally relevant produce for sale in local and national markets — driving a local economic impact of over $50,000 and boosting access to food grown in Iowa.
Well failure ‘imminent’
In the summer of 2022, Renshaw said well pressure began to drop below eight gallons per minute, which isn’t enough to irrigate and puts farmers at risk of midseason loss.
According to information Renshaw said she shared with the supervisors, the well casing has collapsed, the pump is no longer submerged in the water and thus is not cooled. She warned this will cause a failure resulting in no water on site, and because of the high water needs of table food operations, it is not feasible to tank water in from off- site.
County Planning and Development Director Charlie Nichols said the well isn’t broken yet and could last another couple of years, or it could break at any moment. The well was installed about three years ago. Nichols said the well installer was pulling out dirt or sand and should not have continued with installation. Now, the fairly new well is in a state of imminent failure.
The supervisors in October allocated about $40,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the well, but have paused disbursement of those dollars while the overall development is in flux. County Planning and Development applied for that project.
If another farmer eventually comes in and wants to farm the entire 40 or acres, not just these three acres, Nichols said the county will have wasted money should the well need to be in another spot.
“The board allocated those funds because they do want to invest in infrastructure to make the farm successful,” Nichols said. “But to give the farm the best chance of being successful, they don't want to invest that infrastructure until there is a long-term full site plan and not a three acres plan.”
Supervisor Chair Louie Zumbach said the county isn’t trying to adversely affect anybody. County officials simply don't want to put the well in the wrong place, which staff and the developer have advised will happen if they proceed with installation now.
“The well is not for just this couple of acres,” Zumbach said. “It’s to be used for the farm and the whole development, which is unknown how many years away that is.”
Commitment to agriculture remains
The original pitch for Dows Farm predated the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, rising interest rates and supply chain issues have affected development plans, raising some questions over whether the initial vision can be realized in the present reality.
The project also lost its original champion with the retirement of Nichols’ predecessor, Les Beck.
Developer Chad Pelley said he can empathize with Feed Iowa First moving toward not committing to another season on the site without a properly functioning well.
“There's a commitment to an agricultural component,” whether or not the nonprofit stays on the site, Pelley said. “The county has made that commitment and there's a governing plan that requires it.”
One-fourth of the site is to be dedicated to farming operations, one-fourth is for the residential component and the rest is for conservation.
While awaiting possible federal Community Development Block Grant derecho recovery funds for Dows housing, the developer has held off on breaking ground at the site.
Nichols said as part of the purchase agreement with the developer, once the first payment is made for the land, there will be an easement put in place over the farm that restricts it to sustainable farming practices and bars housing or commercial development on the agriculture
Supervisor Ben Rogers, the only person who’s been on the three-member board since the project was first conceptualized, said the county is working with its development partner to examine what is realistically achievable in the next five to 10 years, and whether the original agri-community vision works in the current economic climate.
“We have to do what's best for the interests of the project and taxpayers, and not only for the benefit of a nonprofit who's utilizing the county land,” Rogers said.
Linn County will need to issue a new request for proposals for farmers on the public land. Nichols said that could occur possibly after the contract expires between the county and the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT), which subleases the land to Feed Iowa First, so there’s no clear timeline.
“The plan was never the county would hold the farm and own it,” Nichols said. “We're doing that because SILT was not able to purchase the property.”
Renshaw said Feed Iowa First does have a long-term lease with Linn County Conservation for more than 10 acres of land, which received ARPA funds. The organization will have to decide whether to move farmers from the Dows site to the new one, which is nearby. The new site will begin to open in the spring.
Farmers are looking for more land than the nonprofit is able to give, she said. There’s already a waiting list of 12 to 15 farmers looking for more land than what is accessible in Linn County, so Renshaw said to lose three acres is a huge amount with little land available.
She wrote to supervisors that farmers having to move off the land because of a lack of necessary infrastructure breaks trust with local farmers and organizations, which could make it difficult to find a long-term farmer.
Renshaw said the development should have soil and water commissioners, farmers and local food professionals involved in overseeing changes and advising on Dows Farm’s creation and implementation.
“I don’t feel those voices are being brought into the conversation as changes are made,” Renshaw said Friday. “I would love to see more transparency in the process and how that affects the farm and agri-community going forward.”
Nichols previously said there will be such a committee involved in selecting a farmer for the entire site.
SILT Executive Director Suzan Erem said Feed Iowa First’s role in the development was supposed to be just the first phase — a way to get some farming going so people could start imagining how the agri-community might look.
“This whole vision that the county spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and man hours on to develop is being pulled apart,” Erem said.
Until a conservation easement is in place to protect the farm in perpetuity, Erem said the developer would be lucky to find a farmer to place their futures in the hands of the agri-hood.
“The food farming community in Iowa is pretty small,” Erem said. “It's not like corn and soybeans. There's only so many farmers growing table food in Iowa. Most of them know each other, and all of those have heard what's going on at Dows.”
Zumbach said the county is trying to do the best it can given the situation.
“It was farmed before they came,” Zumbach said. “If they choose to leave, it will still be farmed. It will probably not be the same type of production.”
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com