LANDOWNER INTERVIEWS
Leaving a Legacy through Conservation in the Little Cottonwood Watershed

Gary Rathman | Roland Richert | Gerald and Lorrel Riederer | Marvin and Esther Windschitl

“It’s marginal crop land. In wet years the bottomland would flood and the sandy soil would produce. During dry years the bottomland would produce but the sandy soil would burn. In the best years, this was 170-bushel corn, but with more frequent flooding and rotten grain prices, CREP became a lifesaver. It saves so much soil from getting into the Little Cottonwood River,” Roland said, “and is really attracting the wildlife.”

“There are so many more pheasants out there, and the deer love to run and hide in that tall grass. I really like to walk and look at the wildflowers too. Wildlife needs room too, so I gave some to them. CREP is still farming, just in a different way," states Roland.

Richert was one of the first landowners in Brown County to participate in CREP.