By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

INDIANAPOLIS. Ind. — Being a prolific producer isn’t profitable in the long term if it’s contaminating rivers, lakes and streams; that’s the philosophy behind the River Friendly Farmer (RFF) program overseen by the Indiana Assoc. of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD) and the state’s 92 county SWCDs.

The agency, in partnership with the Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana State Department of Agriculture Division of Soil Conservation and the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), awards the RFF distinction annually to qualifying Hoosier farmers. Two weeks ago, 57 farmers from 46 counties received their award at a special Indiana State Fair ceremony.

“The one thing we love … to do more than anything, is brag on our farmers,” said Jane Hardisty, NRCS state conservationist, during the hour-long event.

She pointed out the program wouldn’t work if the private landowners who take part didn’t care enough about their land in the first place, to practice conservation on it. And Lt. Gov. Rebecca Skillman added this sort of award should be a reminder to all state residents that farmers were the first “environmentalists.”

What’s good for the land is also sometimes profitable for the farmer. Jeff Lytle owns 1,100 acres and farms on 800 of that, in addition to renting other land for corn and soybeans. He divides his crops on about 5,000 aggregate acres in Scott (where he lives), Washington and Clark counties.

Lytle estimates he has about 20 acres of waterways, which include Conservation Reserve Program land. He has filter strips between crops and ditches – which he cleans out every couple of years – and despite the fact his property doesn’t border the river itself, he does have river bottom land.

“We try to keep the streams clean,” he said, explaining the conservation measures he uses cuts down on topsoil loss for him. He also went to partial no-till in 1982 and has installed tiles with basins to hold runoff water for later crop use. “We’ve got better yields because we hold the moisture” in drought conditions, he added.

Lytle also uses variable-rate fertilizer application on his fields – also known as precision or GPS-aided agriculture – on a grid mapping system, as well as field analysis services through his local co-op. Teresa Just, Lytle’s fiancée, said he benefits greatly from the Scott County SWCD, NRCS and Farm Service Agency offices.

“We don’t know what anyone else does in the state, but our local agencies just bend over backwards,” she said. For instance, they call Lytle if he’s approaching a due date for paperwork for one of his programs, so he won’t forget.

Just also said Lytle used to bid out doing tile work for other area farmers, up until two years ago when he cut back.

In turn, Lytle, 51, is helping the next generation. He does have a school-age son, Brady, but he’s been giving farming guidance to someone who can use it more immediately: Neighbor Cody Chambless, who plants 200 acres. This is only Chambless’ third year growing row crops – though the 29-year-old grew up on a farm, his family dealt with livestock and hay.

He worked for Lytle as a high-schooler, putting up hay and straw and other jobs on the farm. Lytle is his main teacher for the corn and soybeans, as well as a big help.

“There’s times I needed a tractor or something, and he’s helped me,” Chambless said. “He started out just the same as I have (Lytle is a second-generation farmer on his land); he understands where I’m coming from.”

He, too, is trying to get waterways and tile into his crop fields. In addition to the corn and beans, the younger farmer has 60 beef cows and hopes to add acreage in the future for more growing and a bigger operation overall.

The other 56 RFF recipients with their counties are: Adams County, Stanley Fuhrmann; Clark, Dana Coots; Clay, William Neal and James Rupp; Clinton, Doyal Bell; Crawford, Jim and Doris Kaiser; Daviess, Mike Sprinkle; Dearborn, Gary and Sherman Hughes and Phil and Bev Weaver; Decatur, Scott Templeton; DeKalb, Keith Crowl; Dubois, Dave Schmett and Brad Wehr;

Franklin, Vernon Sheets and Gerald Wendel; Gibson, Larry and Gene Pflug; Hamilton, Terry and Kenny Boone; Harrison, Dean Simpson; Hendricks, Michael and Rebecca Moore; Howard, John Rhine; Huntington, Brian Shafer; Jay, Rick Imel and Kevin Zimmerman; Jefferson, Greg Schneider; Knox, Don Osborne; Kosciusko, Tony Zimmerman; LaGrange, Chris Lambright Jr. and William Nissley;

Lawrence, David Wagner; Martin, Michael Hopkins; Miami, Glen Personett; Newton, Dan Voglund; Noble, Gregg Cunningham; Ohio, Sam Fox; Orange, Terry Kinser; Owen, Kenneth Sebastian; Perry, Donald Champion; Posey, David O., David W. and Charles Ries; Pulaski, Richard Nielsen and Emil Smolek; Putnam, Abe Hodgen; Spencer, Cleon Hurm; Starke, Randy Lukac and Larry Vendl;

Sullivan, Curtis Horton; Tippecanoe, Lee and Scott Brand and Roger Verhey; Vanderburgh, Gary Ludwig; Vigo, Randy Miller; Wabash, DeWayne Krom and Gerald Miller; Washington, Norman Bodenbender and David Lee; White, Gary Rice; and Whitley, John  and Lynn Johnson and Mike and Harold Myers.