Spokespeople - Bill Hammitt

ILF Conservationist Bill Hammitt knows conservation from many aspects. He is a no-till farmer, a Soil and Water District commissioner, and was employed for 15 years at Natural Resources Conservation Service. Farming near Portsmouth in Harrison County, he has been a corn-soybean no-tiller for over 25 years.  He farmed while working for NRCS and the farm grew to where he couldn’t keep doing both. So he chose to become a full-time farmer.

“When no-till came about in the ‘80s I felt that was the answer to a lot of our resource problems. So I started practicing on my own farm what I had been preaching,” said Hammitt. “We’ve reached a point where we need to do more to promote no-till. There are a lot of long time no-tillers out there and there are those who won’t even try it. We need to bring in those people in and get started. Living in the Loess Hills, it’s a tremendous erosion prone area and that’s where we need no-till the worst.”

Bill points out that now would be a good time to consider no-till.  “We are getting into a time of super high energy costs I think we need  to promote no-till from the aspects of saving energy  and conserving moisture.”

Bill and his wife, Rita, are the parents of a grown daughter and son. When not talking no-till, he is busy gardening, hunting or fishing. He has served the the board for Amaizing Energy ethanol plant, Denison; and is a Harrison Soil and Water District Commissioner.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from Iowa State University.

Contact Information:

Bill Hammitt
3620 240th Street
Portsmouth, IA 51565
712/743-2974
bhammitt@fmtct.com