[Listen] James and Mary Bierman Wildlife Enhancement Award

The Rice County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) recognized James and Mary Bierman with the 2020 Wildlife Enhancement Award. Typically the award would have been presented to the Biermans at the Rice County Fair during the Best of the Best Rice County Agriculture Hall of Fame Program. With no Rice County Fair this year we came up with a different plan as we all felt it was important to honor those that have earned these conservation awards.

I had the opportunity to follow Teresa DeMars with the Rice County SWCD out to the Bierman's farm located a little south and east of Northfield. We sat on their deck in the shade to record the interview about their farm and the award. It was fun to talk with James and Mary about how they were able to restore native prairies on their farm with the help of Teresa and others at the Rice County SWCD.

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It was a lot work to get native prairie lands established as James spent a lot of time controlling invasive weeds like buckthorn and wild parsnip. The reward was to be able to relax on their deck and see all the wildlife roam around as if they owned the farm! Click on the link above and listen to the interview with James and Mary.