Bryan Sievers

One of Bryan Sievers’ most vivid memories is of his father planting into an old pasture with an early no-till planter he rented. At that time, it took four men standing on each row of the planter to get adequate down pressure. Continuing the strong conservation ethic of his father, Bryan has made agricultural innovation his life’s work, as he is one of only three farmers in Iowa who utilizes anaerobic digester technology.

With around 2,000 acres of row crops and over 2,000 cattle, Bryan employs the digester to create a “closed-loop” in his operation the converts cattle manure and cover crop biomass into electricity, biogas and rich, digestate fertilizer. While biogas and electricity offer a novel source of income and renewable energy, it is the digestate fertilizer that Bryan views as his most valuable product.

Both cover crops and digestate fertilizer work in unison to protect soil health and raise organic matter to levels more comparable to pre-European settlement. For Bryan, who served in Iowa’s state congress for two terms, every systemic concern in agriculture is connected to the soil. In his own words - taking a cavalier attitude towards soil health tends to lead to world starvation.

Building a Culture of Conservation: 

“It all comes back to the soil. It’s about making this land fertile for years to come. Whether or not we pass the land directly to our children, it’s about preserving a reverence for resources that few places in the world have been given.”

Contact Information

Bryan Sievers
26618 20th Ave
Stockton IA, 52769
563-240-4035
bryan.sievers@gmail.com