Venango dryland producer Steve Tucker honored with Conservation Society award

Six leaders in Nebraska resource conservation, as well as the Nebraska Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS), were honored by the International SWCS at this year’s international SWCS Annual Conference in Denver. The Nebraska Chapter SWCS also honored four individuals recently at the state chapter meeting. The society is a nonprofit scientific and educational association dedicated to advancing the science and art of good land use and improvement of natural resources.

Steve Tucker (2022), from Venango, has been awarded the SWCS Conservation Professional of the Year Award, in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in practicing and advancing the science and art of natural resource conservation.  He has been learning over the past 25 years how soil becomes healthy and sustaining, and in turn, preserves the soil for the future. It is through his conservation efforts that have made Tucker Farms a productive dryland farm in Western Nebraska. Being successful in an area that averages 14-inches of rainfall is truly an accomplishment.  Steve switched from conventional farming to no-till farming in 1994. In 2010 he added the use of cover crops and in 2015 he added livestock; chicken, pigs, and cattle to graze the fields.  Steve was named a Soil Health Champion in 2016 by the National Association of Conservation Districts Soil Health Champions Network, which is made up of more than 350 farmers, ranchers, and woodland owners from across the nation who practice good soil health management on their operations and promote the use of soil health management systems in their communities. He has been on the speaker’s list many times for NRCS’s Farming Evolution over the past seven years. Farming Evolution reaches 150-200 farmers each year from all over the country and Canada, and is held in Holyoke, Colo.