A Blooming Prairie family dedicated to agriculture while preserving the land at the same time is Dodge County’s 2012 Outstanding Conservationists.

Roger and Rhonda Toquam, with their sons, Brennen, Josh and Isaiah, were selected by the Dodge Soil and Water Conservation District for the award.

Roger and Rhonda were honored as conservationists at the annual meeting of the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts on Dec. 2-4, 2012, in Bloomington, Minn.

“We’re really proud of the Toquams and what they have done for conservation in Dodge County,” Larry Scherger, district chairman said in a news release. “The Toquams provide a wonderful example for conservationists.”

The Toquams along with Roger’s father, Orlo, operate a 2,600-acre cash grain and canning crop farm, and they custom finish 4,000 pigs, as well. They have been ridge-tilling since 1980 and over the years have installed side inlet structures along their drainage ditches, filter strips in the Conservation Reserve Program, farmstead and field windbreaks, wildlife plantings and follow a nutrient and pest management plan. Their farm balances production needs with land stewardship, which will preserve soil, water quality and wildlife.

The Toquams, in conjuction with Minnesota Soybean, also held a farm tour on their property last summer to showcase innovative farming techniques and inform the public.