Dean Nieder has lived in his entire life in Douglas County, where he has continued and expanded conservation measures started by his father in the 1930s.
"It saves our soil from leaving our farm as much as possible," he said. "I think that's the big winner just keeping the soil where it belongs. Conservation helps you do that."
The Neiders, Sarah, rear, Dean and Martha, sit on their front porch overlooking a valley near their 140 acres. Dean and Martha are the winners of the Kansas Bankers Assn. Conservation Award.
Dean and Martha Nieder will receive the Kansas Bankers Assn. Conservation Award for the 140 acres they own on East 850 Road.
Nieder, 65, said his grandfather bought the land in 1891 and his father took up farming in the 1930s. His father began putting in terraces to reduce topsoil runoff.
"Some of the terraces we've got are the ones he laid out," Nieder said. "He was practicing conservation when there wasn't even a conservation program."
Although Nieder now rents the land for farming, he has participated in conservation programs to build more terraces and put in waterways, or strips of grass that allow water to run off without eroding valuable top soil.
While Nieder knows that some topsoil inevitably will blow or wash away, he said he hoped the conservation measures would keep the land viable and productive for his daughters, Chris and Sarah.
"You lose some of it anyway, but a lot more of it would be gone," he said.
"It would be full of ditches and washouts."
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