Iolans Jack and Beverly Franklin will receive the Bankers Award for Soil Conservation during the annual Allen County conservation district meeting Saturday evening.
Soil conservation became a watchword for agriculture a century ago when farming practices, with little consideration for the future, led to extensive erosion. Wind and water took their toll. Repeatedly planting the same crops, with no rotation, depleted soil nutrients and left yields a fraction of what they are in todays tech-savvy environment.
The drought and blistering temperatures of the 1930s led to storms so great that massive clouds of fine dirt blocked out the sun. Homes became thickly layered with dust and vast opaque clouds of the nasty stuff drifted as far as the East Coast.
Jack Franklin, 83, was born on a farm near Elsmore just when innovations were arriving. He helped about the place and had a front row seat to the damage erosion can do. On graduating from Elsmore High School in 1953, his own pathway to farming was blocked by cost.
He heeded Uncle Sams call and served in Korea during the waning stages of the war.
Memories are powerful. When Franklin began farming in the 1960s, first in Linn County and then on 80 acres near Carlyle, he was well-versed in the wisdom of soil conservation.
He constructed terraces to retard runoff from heavy rains, and coupled them with seeded waterways to direct water into streams or ponds, which gave advantage to livestock and wildlife.
He built ponds to capture and hold stock water. He added buffer strips near streams to give birds and animals a place to propagate and escape predators; they also stabilized soil.
In association to his farming, Franklin found a job with Martin Tractor, selling both farm and construction equipment under the Caterpillar brand.
Later he joined Allen County Realty, which gave the firm an edge in ag land assessment, and finally earned certification in auctioneering.
For years he planted, maintained and harvested cash crops and raised cattle. In later years, Franklin turned his cropland, a portion of 750 acres, to others. Grandson Brandon Birk of Gridley farms some, as do Dick Sutherland and Alan Ensminger.
WHILE FRANKLIN has a firm foundation as a steward of the land, he also has been careful to involve himself as has wife Beverly in community outreach.
In 1960, he earned a degree in accounting at Kansas State College (now Pittsburg State University). He has served on the United Methodist Church Board of Trustees, the USD 257 Board of Education and as a 4-H leader. His annual support of the Allen County Fair became more visible after he became an auctioneer and volunteered to help with the livestock premium sale. Agriculturally, he has been on the soil conservation board, a USDA Farm Services representative and a member of the Anderson County Rural District Watershed Committee.
Beverly had a long career in banking and real estate. The two have been married 62 years.
The Franklins have three daughters, all involved with the family farm before following their own careers.
Jackie McIntyre, wife of Greg, lives near the original 80 acres Franklin acquired at auction and teaches third grade at Jefferson Elementary.
