Opportunities with Silvopasture
On January 27th, the Iowa County Farmer-led Uplands Watershed group hosted their virtual farm tour, "Opportunities with Silvopasture:...
Welcome to the Iowa County Uplands Watershed Group
Check out the new Uplands Virtual Conservation Roadtrip!
Who We Are
In the spring of 2016, a group of farmers led by a young farmer named Michael Dolan, gathered near the Dodgeville-Spring Green area in response to DATCP’s newly announced Producer-Led Watershed Protection grant program. Michael Fields Agricultural Institute worked with the farmers to write a successful grant, and the Uplands Farmer-Led Watershed Group was born. Our group is a mixture of large and small, conventional and organic, grain and livestock, and fresh produce and dairy farmers – a big tent. Our main resource concerns continue to be soil and nutrients lost through polluted farm runoff in this hilly part of the state, and efforts to increase water infiltration into the soil, holding water on farmland where it's needed against droughts, and reducing costs of road, bridge, and culvert repairs when increasingly frequent extreme storm events bring heavy rainfall. Our efforts directly affect multiple sub-watersheds that feed directly into the Wisconsin River, and further down into the Mississippi River.
Our Watershed
Our group is nestled in the hilly landscape of southwestern Wisconsin known as the Driftless region. Unlike much of the rest of the state, this landscape was never glaciated, producing deep valleys and high ridges with soil highly susceptible to erosion. The region also has fractured bedrock in areas, which can move nutrients into the groundwater, sometimes before it's filtered.
Producers in our group lie within the Mill Creek and Lowery Creek watersheds (LW15), in northeastern Iowa County. More specifically, this watershed is divided into multiple sub-watersheds, including the Meudt-Mill Creek, Knight Hollow-Mill Creek, Lowery Creek, and Rush Creek sub-watersheds, as mapped to the right.
Iowa County’s Uplands Producer-Led Watershed Group decided at its March 30 meeting to expand its boundaries to the west to encompass Otter Creek Watershed.
You can see where each of our producers lies within each sub-watershed and learn more about their work!
What We Do
Outside of cooking up some of the freshest Gulf seafood and best grassfed brats and burgers Wisconsin has to offer at our events, our producers work hard to stay updated on the most relevant information on best land management practices that protect our watershed's soil health and water quality. We share these first hand experiences, research, and good spirited conversation through events and collaborations with various organizations, farms, and agricultural/conservation agents. Take a look below to learn more about the conservation practices our producers use on their land, the story behind our connection with Gulf of Mexico fishermen, and the many farm tours and field days we host.
HYDRA
Conservation Practices
Conservation tillage, cover crops, rotational grazing, you name it! Learn more about the practices our producers use and their experiences adopting them.
SANTORINI
The Gulf Connection
What's shrimp, algae blooms, and the "Dead Zone" got to do with Wisconsin farming? Learn how the Mississippi river connects us all in more ways than you may imagine.
MYKONOS
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Farm Tours
Interested in seeing our group in action? Come to one of our farm tours / field days! Here, you can learn about the events we've hosted previously and what's next in store.
OUR
Group
Read the stories of all 21 producers in our watershed group! Here, you can learn more about their history, farms, values, farming practices, and why they value this group and our collective work.
Visit our Farmer Shop to support the quality products our producers grow, raise, and make!
Upcoming Events
Contact Iowa County Uplands Watershed Group
W2493 County Rd ES, East Troy, WI 53120
262 - 642 - 3303
