Kristi Heffelmeier

Contact Information

Kristi Heffelmeier
14745 Hammond Ave
Buckingham, IA 50612
fossfarmcorp@gmail.com
319-429-6960

While her roots are in rural Iowa, Kristi Heffelmeier began her agricultural journey fairly recently in 2013. After several years teaching in San Antonio, Texas, Kristi chose to move back to the Midwest where she soon realized that her family’s fifth generation farm would someday be left to her. Knowing this, she began working her way into the farming operation with her father Chris Foss. Kristi soon decided to put full focus on the operation and now does everything from field work to bookkeeping. The opportunity to farm also opened doors to further implement conservation practices on the family operation.

Conservation has been a part of Kristi’s family farm for decades. Her father Chris began using no-till and strip-till practices in the late 1990s. He also began utilizing cover crops in 2011 to help prevent soil loss after the harvest of seed corn. More recent additions to their conservation plan include a woodchip bioreactor, windbreaks, and streambank restoration. As a commissioner for the Black Hawk County Soil and Water Conservation District, Kristi continually hopes to find new ways of protecting Iowa’s agricultural resources.

Having lived in both urban and rural settings, Kristi sees great benefits to the farm life—the flexibility and lifestyle balance out the tough times. She, along with her father, also note the positive feeling of carrying on the legacy of the family farm. After five generations, Kristi hopes to someday pass the agricultural legacy on to her son.

Building a Culture of Conservation: 

“We started with 140 acres of cover crops and have gone up to having 75% to 78% of our land in cover crops.”