Farmer, conservationist, entrepreneur, mentor, and messenger: all describe Wendy Mariko Johnson.

Following a career in California’s fashion industry, the Iowa native and husband Johnny Rankin returned to Floyd County to farm with an innovative flair. Their brand of land stewardship combines soil, animals, and plants, to produce local food and a healthy ecosystem. It also led to the family farm evolving into two farms.

At Center View Farms they grow a diverse rotation of 1,000 acres of no-till corn, soybeans, and small grains with her parents. To improve soil health and protect water resources, they have established prairie strips, grow cover crops, and host research trials of 60-inch rows of corn.

As an organic eater, Wendy sought to grow more organic crops. That transition was aided by growing alfalfa due to its ability to suppress weeds while boosting soil fertility. With acres of forage available she began acquiring livestock.

The environmental and economic benefits of grazing led to the rebranding of 130 acres as the organically certified Joia Food and Fiber Farm. Where conventional corn once stood, there is now a perennial pasture for adaptive rotational grazing of sheep, cattle, hogs, and poultry sold at wholesale markets and direct-to-consumer.

“I am providing animals a good life, one that involves their innate abilities to get their food on their own,” Wendy said.

The holistic land management practices at Joia Food and Fiber Farm build soil health and biodiversity, sequester carbon, and enhance wildlife habitat.

Over the past decade more than 6,000 fruit, nut, and hardwood trees and shrubs have been planted. Silvopasture, the deliberate grazing of areas with trees, has been embraced. Mowing is delayed to encourage grassland birds to nest.

“I am helping clean water before it flows downstream from me. I am helping slow water down,” Wendy said of her efforts to restore riparian areas and stabilize streambanks.

Wendy now grows Kernza, a perennial grain known for its ability to infiltrate water and build the soil’s organic matter. She is vice president of Perennial Promise Growers Cooperative, which provides farmer-led, collective marketing, and technical support to other Kernza growers.

Wendy is invested in strengthening local food systems. She worked on the creation of 99 Counties, a direct-marketing food company for small to mid-sized producers, promoting regenerative agriculture. She also started Counting Sheep Sleep Company, a value-added business to promote regenerative organic grass-fed wool.

Wendy hopes that starting conservation-based farm businesses, and sharing the successes and failures that follow, will inspire other farmers to do the same. She believes conservation provides endless opportunities for farmers to grow their businesses, buffer against the worst effects of climate change, and provide the equity needed to do more on less land.

In addition to chairing the Iowa USDA Farm Service Agency’s state committee, Wendy is a prominent figure in other local, state, and national organizations promoting conservation, soil health, climate disruption mitigation, and farmland preservation. Her thought leadership is generously shared with audiences ranging from regional farmer networks and federal policymakers to local Charles City high school agronomy students.

Wendy looks to the future when describing her conservation advocacy, “I am part of a growing conservation ethic movement consisting of farmers and landowners who believe we are temporary land stewards and hoping that our conservation efforts will have long-term effects for future generations.”