A presentation and panel discussion with Iowa agriculture and water resources experts will be offered at Plymouth Church, sponsored by Plymouth Creation Care & Justice Committee, partnering with the Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, the Interfaith Green Coalition, and the Sierra Club of Iowa.  Iowa faces serious water quality issues due in large part to agricultural waste and run-off. What can we do to stop the damage and begin the process of restoration?

An in-depth discussion of Iowa’s water quality issues, presented by Plymouth Church Creation Care & Justice Committee, will be Sunday, April 30, from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Waveland Hall, Plymouth Church, 4126 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines. A free light lunch will be offered from 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Keynote speaker Neil Hamilton, agricultural law policy expert and author of The Land Remains (2022) and The River Knows (available July 2023), will speak at 1:30 p.m. A panel discussion will follow featuring farmers, conservationists, and government agents, who will address current conservation practices and solutions.

Moderated by Pat Boddy, a water resources engineer, the panel includes: Chris Henning, landowner and recipient of the Practical Farmers’ 2022 Farmland Owner Legacy Award; Ruth McCabe, leader of the Conservation Team at Heartland Co-op; John Norwood, business owner and former Polk County Soil & Water Commissioner, and Matt Russell, Iowa State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency, and a fifth-generation Iowa farmer.

For more information, contact Erin Moynihan, Plymouth Communications Director

Details:

When: Sunday, April 30, 2023, Program, 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Free light lunch at 12:30 p.m.
Please bring your own water and/or coffee travel cup or bottle.

Where: Waveland Hall, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, 4126 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines

Keynote speaker: Neil Hamilton, an attorney and agricultural law and policy expert and author of The Land Remains, published in 2022, and The River Knows, to be published in July 2023.

Panelists:
• Chris Henning, landowner and recipient of the Practical Farmers’ 2022 Farmland Owner Legacy Award
• Ruth McCabe, Farmland Owner Legacy Award who leads the Conservation Team at Heartland Co-op
• John Norwood, business owner and former Polk County Soil & Water Commissioner
• Matt Russell, Iowa State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency, and a fifth-generation Iowa farmer
Moderator:
Pat Boddy, Professional Engineer (PE), water resources engineer and conservation administrator (ret.)