Emmons Farm was selected as the first recipient of the first Oklahoma Leopold Conservation Award®.
The prestigious award, given in honor or renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by American ranchers, farmers and foresters.
In Oklahoma the award is presented by Sand County Foundation, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, Oklahoma Farming and Ranching Foundation, ITC Holdings Corp. and The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.
Emmons Farm is located in Leedey, and is owned and managed by the Jimmy and Ginger Emmons family. The farm was converted to no-till in 1995, and Jimmy later went a few steps further and adopted crop rotations, cover crops and planned grazing management to decrease soil erosion from water and wind, and increase water infiltration of the soil. In addition to conventional soil testing, Jimmy uses specialized soil and plant tissue testing to determine soil fertility. This helps him reduce fertilizer application rates by crediting the system for nutrients supplied by soil microbes.
