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January 6, 2020
This summer we visited with three landowners who are making a difference for Monarch butterflies and other pollinators by planting prairie. Over the last few weeks we've introduced you to two of those landowners and today is our third and final. These landowners have made a commitment to help bring the Monarch butterfly back and support pollinators and other wildlife by planting prairie. We hope their stories will inspire you and give you some ideas about how you could also help save the Monarch and honor Iowa's prairie heritage. Winter is a great time to plan and dream of creating a prairie paradise!
Virginia Ekstrand is always in motion – from taking ‘ology trips out west with her grandkids to learning how to become a master naturalist, this retired school teacher never stops moving. On this late August morning, she is firing on all cylinders when talking about her latest project of reconstructing a 16-acre prairie on her heritage farm.
 Reconstructed prairies feature a variety of native Iowa prairie flowers that benefit pollinators in general and various milkweed species that benefit monarchs in particular. The Eastern monarch population has declined by more than 80 percent over the past 20 years primarily due to habitat loss, including reduced milkweed required for reproduction and fewer nectar plants.
Across Iowa, private landowners who are establishing prairies are helping the monarch by getting more pollinator habitat on the ground to provide fuel, and milkweeds to grow more monarchs.
Joined by her loyal four-legged companions Tess and Lily, Ekstrand leads a guided tour complete with side anecdotes and future plans on battling invasive plants, tree thinning and pond reconstruction on the way to see the young prairie.
Her connection to the farm began when she and her husband moved back from Alaska in 1967 to take over the operation that had been in her husband’s family since 1839. The original homesteader’s certificate signed by President Tyler hangs on the dining room wall.
Virginia and her husband enjoyed a connection to the outdoors through their interest in hunting big game while making a living farming the land. After he passed, Ekstrand wanted to make some changes.
“It has always been my dream to take this back to 1839,” she said.
The process started when she began restoring two small fields that together were about 16 acres. The farm equipment had gotten too large to be used on these small parcels, she said, so Ekstrand met with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), enrolled it in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and she planted it with prairie seed, a mix of native grasses with a dozen species of flowering plant, from Pheasants Forever.
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The first year, the transition looked like a mess. This spring – its second year – didn’t look much better, Ekstrand said.
“I thought ‘Oh God, there went $4,000 in seed,’” she said. “But after this spring, I’ve been thrilled with what’s going on.”
Monarchs, bumblebees, silver spotted skippers, common green darners flit and flutter above the goldenrod. The young prairie is just starting to express itself.
“I really like the feeling that I’m contributing to the balance,” she said. “There really is nothing like it.”
Ekstrand worked with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to enroll her prairie in the Conservation Reserve Program CP42 pollinator habitat program. She has a forestry plan and is planning to use the NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program to complete brush removal of invasive species and plant a mix of native trees and shrubs along edges to compliment her pollinator planting.
She used Soil and Water Conservation District loan program and NRCS assistance to rehab pond behind house which solved part of water issues she was having.
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