Quail Forever Promotes Ryan Heiniger to Director of Agriculture and Conservation Innovations

Quail Forever has announced the promotion of Ryan Heiniger to Director of Agriculture and Conservation Innovations. In his new role, Heiniger will work to expand partnerships in the agricultural community by showcasing the compatibility and profitability of conservation programs within production agriculture and working lands.   
 
Working for Quail Forever since 2013 to promote and expand the organization’s Farm Bill Biologist program in Midwestern states, Heiniger has been a driving force behind the company’s recent focus on precision agriculture - helping farmers optimize return-on-investment within their operations. In partnership with Iowa-based AgSolver, Heiniger’s team of biologists and precision ag business planning specialists have utilized Profit Zone ManagerTM technology to help landowners incorporate conservation practices and reallocate working capital to their most productive field acres, with the goal of increasing farm income. Precision business planning partnerships have expanded to seven states since 2015 under Heiniger’s oversight with plans to expand into Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois in the near future.
 
“Ryan Heiniger and his incredible team are leading this organization in new and exciting directions with the further development of precision agriculture on working lands,” stated Howard Vincent, president and CEO of Quail Forever. “Our capacity to deliver conservation and profitability to the nation’s producers has grown dramatically under Ryan’s leadership, and we look forward to more field innovations as he develops groundbreaking partnerships in the arena of agriculture.”
 
In his new role as Director of Agriculture & Conservation Innovations, Heiniger will work nationally to expand similar partnerships in the agricultural community, helping create new opportunities to demonstrate how production agriculture and conservation are compatible and interdependent.  His top priorities will be to expand partnerships with other technology platform providers and further demonstrate how working lands best management practices can deliver improved soil health, improved water quality, wildlife habitat and profitability. With 750 grassroots chapters across the country - with many in rural communities – Quail Forever is uniquely positioned to deliver programs that provide both profitability and sustainability for America’s farmers and ranchers. 

Prior to working for “The Habitat Organization,” Heiniger was employed with Ducks Unlimited as
director of conservation programs within the Great Plains Region, including the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, and Colorado. During this time, he was responsible for leading major regional conservation initiatives and was involved in a variety of technical and leadership positions, along with policy efforts to secure Minnesota’s dedicated constitutional funding for natural resources in 2008.
 
A native of Mediapolis, Iowa, Heiniger was greatly influenced by working and hunting on his family farm along the Mississippi River. After attending Iowa State University and receiving his bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology, he began a career in conservation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Heiniger is an advisory council member of both the Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance and the Iowa Soybean Association.  He and his wife, Nikki, are raising their two children on the family farm as the 5th generation. 

For more information about precision agriculture or opportunities to partner with Quail Forever, please contact Ryan Heiniger at (319) 768-8348 or RHeiniger@PheasantsForever.org.

About Quail Forever

Quail Forever is a leading organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation efforts for the United States’ native quail species. Since its creation in 2005, Quail Forever has conducted more than 8,500 habitat projects across the nation benefitting quail and other wildlife. Along with its affiliate organization Pheasants Forever, it has committed more than $708 million to improve more than 15.8 million acres of wildlife habitat. Quail Forever has more than 16,000 members and 165 local chapters across the country. Both Quail Forever and Pheasants Forever are part of Pheasants Forever, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit. 
 
Photo Credit: John Lovretta / The Hawk Eye

Media Contact
Jared Wiklund
(651) 209-4953
jwiklund@quailforever.org