Bill Hammitt

ILF farmer partner Bill Hammitt knows conservation from many aspects. He is a no-till farmer and was employed for 15 years at Natural Resources Conservation Service. Farming near Portsmouth in Harrison County, he has been a corn-soybean no-tiller for over 30 years. He farmed while working for NRCS and the farm grew to where he couldn’t keep doing both, so he chose to become a full-time farmer.

“When no-till came about in the ‘80s I felt that was the answer to a lot of our resource problems. So I started practicing on my own farm what I had been preaching,” said Hammitt. “We’ve reached a point where we need to do more to promote no-till. There are a lot of long time no-tillers out there and there are those who won’t even try it. We need to bring in those people in and get started. Living in the Loess Hills, it’s a tremendous erosion prone area and that’s where we need no-till the worst.”

Bill points out that now would be a good time to consider no-till. “We are getting into a time of super high energy costs I think we need to promote no-till from the aspects of saving energy and conserving moisture.”

He has installed terraces, waterways, filter strips, and grassed headlands on his land and also uses contouring and cover crops. He has re-established native prairie CRP land as well. 

Bill and his wife, Rita, are the parents of a grown daughter and son. When not talking no-till, he is busy gardening, hunting or fishing. He served on the the board for Amaizing Energy ethanol plant, Denison; Harrison Soil and Water Conservation District commissioner, and on the Western Iowa No-tillers (WIN) committee. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University.

In 2012, Bill and Rita received the Iowa Farm Environmental Leader award, which recognizes leaders who have made environmental stewardship a priority.

Building a Culture of Conservation: 

"Soil health not only benefits yields but conserve the resource. No-till and cover crops are the best recipe for good soil health."

Contact Information

Bill Hammitt
3620 240th Street
Portsmouth, IA 51565
(402) 290-2108
bhammitt@wiaw.net