Rob Stout

In 1978, Rob Stout began farming 400 acres with his dad. Over the years he has grown the operation and now employs cover crops on his entire 1,100 acres. From the outset, Rob has been deeply interested in the cutting-edge agronomic practices that help conserve our natural resources. He started with minimum tillage, but it didn’t take long for him to jump into no-till and purchase a no-till planter with his dad in 1983.

Rob was an early adopter of cover crops and in 2009 when he participated in what would become a ten-year cover crop study with ILF. Going even further, Rob installed a wood-chip bioreactor to reduce nitrate losses from his farm. As a leader and early adopter, Rob always takes the time to help interested farmers figure out how conservation practices may work for them.

Beyond economic incentives, Rob believes that the central reason to practice conservation is simply that it’s the right thing to do. Taking this as a starting point, he hopes systemic changes can be made to allow more farmers to feasibly grow third or fourth crops, to adopt cover crops on the majority of Iowa’s acres, and install bioreactors and similar water quality measures.

Building a Culture of Conservation: 

“I’ll be the first to say, hey, if something comes out next year that looks better in regards to conservation, I’ll drop what I’m doing and try it out.”

Contact Information

Rob Stout
2449 Hemlock Ave
Washington, IA 52535
319-548-2404
rob­_stout@yahoo.com