Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, has announced an Audubon family is the most recent recipient of the Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award. Charlie and Greg Hansen are cattle and hog producers in Audubon County and they also practice no-till farming with a crop rotation of corn and soybeans as well as some alfalfa. Charlie is a member of the Soil Conservation Board for the County and Greg serves on the Audubon T-Bone Committee and participates in the Audubon FFA Alumni Association. Both are involved with Pheasants Forever, the Audubon County Cattlemen and the Audubon Pork Producers. They are being recognized for their dedication to livestock care and environmental stewardship as they have incorporated a sustainable nutrient management plan and installed terraces and waterways to manage runoff. Over the past couple of years, they have experimented with cereal rye cover crops as a secondary feed source. They get their fields sampled every four years and utilize variable rate technology to supply their crops with the proper amount of nutrients. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award presentation was limited to 10 people. Secretary Naig and the Hansen family practiced social distancing while receiving the award.
