FLOLO Farms in Iowa: History, What It Grows, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
FLOLO Farms in West Union, Fayette County, farms about 900 acres and was named the 2023 Iowa Leopold Conservation Award winner. Loran Steinlage has become a nationally quoted voice on relay cropping and cover crops. Recognition from the Sand County Foundation and trade media backs its elite status.
| Location | West Union, Fayette County, Iowa |
|---|---|
| Founded | Family land passed from Loran Steinlage's parents |
| Sectors | Corn; soybeans; cereal grains; heritage corn |
| Scale | About 900 acres, per Sand County Foundation |
| Why it is elite | 2023 Iowa Leopold Conservation Award recipient |
| Ownership | Family farm, operated by Loran Steinlage |
| Official website | Sand County Foundation 2023 Leopold Conservation Award announcement |
History of FLOLO Farms
Loran Steinlage once farmed conventionally, chasing yield and renting as much land as he could. After his son was diagnosed with brain cancer, he scaled back rented acres to spend more time at home and began managing the land his parents had passed to him differently.
The shift paid off in soil and water. In 2021 an Iowa DNR stream survey found trout in a stream running through the farm. The 2023 Leopold award, which carries $10,000, recognized the farm's conservation work.
What FLOLO Farms Grows and Raises
FLOLO Farms grows corn and soybeans with cover crops and no-till. It uses relay cropping, which interseeds cover crops into standing corn and soybean fields, and runs a combine modified to harvest cereal grains from relay-cropped fields.
The farm also grows heritage corn varieties for a nearby brewery, runs field trials with partner groups on agronomics, water quality, flood mitigation, crop insurance and alternative crop markets, and works with a manufacturer on machinery design. Field days, podcasts and visits spread the knowledge.
How FLOLO Farms Makes Money
Corn and soybean sales
Row crops remain the base of the business, managed with cover crops and no-till to protect yields and soil.
Specialty grain for a brewery
Heritage corn varieties grown for a nearby brewery show a premium, local market for identity-preserved grain.
Trials and partnerships
Field trials with partners and machinery design work, per the award announcement, put the farm's experience to use beyond its own acres.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from FLOLO Farms
Fewer rented acres managed better can be a sound trade. Steinlage's reset shifted focus from volume to soil function, a lesson for operators stretched thin.
Local specialty markets, such as brewery corn, give commodity farms a way to add value without changing scale. Share data and results: trials with partners build credibility and open new options.
A farmer who finds trout in the creek has earned the right to brag, and FLOLO Farms near West Union has done more than enough planting-under-the-corn trickery to deserve a joke or two. The writers at farm.FM love farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes, and a combine rebuilt for relay cropping gives them a lot to appreciate. We admire the fish and the cleverness.
For context, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site and the home of Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Its contributors each keep an archive, and this one is a good sampler of ranch humor and farm jokes.
How to Contact FLOLO Farms
Website: https://sandcountyfoundation.org/news/2023/loran-steinlage-receives-iowa-leopold-conservation-award
No official operation website was found; this is the best verified public page about the operation. Confirm details before traveling or contacting.
FLOLO Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Leopold Award announcement - Official 2023 Iowa award details
- High Plains Journal coverage - Independent news report on the award
- No-Till Farmer profile - Trade article on no-till and networking
- USDA NASS Iowa 2022 Census of Agriculture - State farm counts and crop data
- Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship - State agriculture agency
FLOLO Farms FAQ
Where is FLOLO Farms?
It is near West Union in Fayette County, Iowa.
What did FLOLO Farms win?
The 2023 Iowa Leopold Conservation Award.
How big is it?
The Sand County Foundation says about 900 acres.
What is relay cropping?
It is interseeding cover crops into standing corn and soybeans, as practiced at FLOLO Farms.
FLOLO Farms shows how relay cropping and soil-first thinking can pay off on a mid-sized Iowa grain farm. See our Iowa farms guide for the programs and markets that support it.