The Jackman family of Lawrence County, Ill., has been awarded the 2018 Conservation Farm Family Award by the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The family farm operation consists of Harold Jackman, son Larry and wife Ruth Ann, and son Ron and wife Dinah; and Larry’s sons Chad and wife Lori, and Chris and wife Kezia, all of whom farm near Sumner.

The Conservation Farm Family Award is presented each year to provide recognition to one outstanding Illinois farm family that exemplifies the spirit of conservation and employs strategies toward total resource management, says Grant Hammer, AISWCD executive director.

The Jackman family farm legacy began in February 1950, when family patriarch Harold returned home from World War II and purchased 180 acres for $5,000.

“Our goal for the future is to continue to improve our land by implementing more conservation practices, managing fertility and doing what is best for the land,” Larry says.

“We want to leave the soil intact and in good fertility, so our future generations will be able to feed the people of the world. Our pledge is to take care of the soil, and it will be good to you in return,” he adds.

According to Hammer, the Jackmans care for the condition of their land and are willing to do the work to maintain the soil’s natural biosystem, integrity and health within their fields, with or without cost-share.

Over the years, Harold and other family members have installed a considerable number of conservation practices, including nutrient management, block and rock chutes, waterways, diversions, field borders, buffer strips, filter strips, grass and hay land management, ponds, terraces, water and sediment control basins, conservation cover, crop rotation, residue management, and continuous no-till strategies.  

They’ve also built a pond that was designed and constructed under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in the Bonpas Watershed in 2003. The entire drainage area consists of 174 acres, and the permanent pool consists of about 5.5 acres. This practice helps mitigate flooding on a downstream county road, and provides fish and amphibian habitat.

The family received their award during the AISWCD annual meeting in late July, and will be presented with a farm sign recognizing their efforts during the Illinois State Fair.