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The history of Iowa barns and the restoration of old barns was presented Saturday at the Matt Cosgrove River's Edge Discovery Center in Fort Dodge.
More than a dozen people gathered to learn some "Barnology 101" as part of Webster County Conservation's monthly "Coffee and Conversation" event.
Deann Haden, presenter and Iowa Barn Foundation board member, said the barn population in Iowa has declined from more than 200,000 barns during peak rural population in the 1900s to fewer than 40,000 barns today.
The Iowa Barn Foundation is a volunteer-led organization with the mission of preserving Iowa's early agricultural heritage and endangered barns by educating people about the historical significance of these structures.
According to data from the organization, the state loses an average of 1,000 barns from the landscape every year.
Haden said the Iowa Barn Foundation has awarded more than $2.5 million in grants to save hundreds of barns that would have otherwise been burned down or destroyed.
"We've given away $2.5 million in grants to save nearly 400 barns, all made possible by our members annually," Haden said. "People will give us an annual donation, and then that puts them on our mailing list, and they get two magazines."
Haden said the Iowa Barn Foundation also rewards members by providing free tours of Iowa barns that have received grants to approximately 850 tourists from 10 different states. Another statewide tour is planned for the fall, and a Calhoun County tour is set for the summer of 2027.
Haden said one Webster County barn on the tour that has been restored belongs to Matt Mitchell, a Duncombe farmer who attended Saturday's presentation.
When a century-old barn was set to be torn down in 2025, Mitchell purchased the barn, moving it to his property, which cost him $2,000.
"I don’t know if I grew up in the wrong era or what, but I love the old old stuff," Mitchell told KCCI in 2025.
The fifth-generation farmer spent eight months restoring the barn, citing his grandfather as an influence, using the same tools on the farm.
"These tools from my grandpa’s lot are something I bought on the farm shed, but you know they’re the same tools he used," Mitchell said.
Despite the Iowa Barn Foundation's track record of providing grants, half of Iowa's counties do not have any volunteers to advocate for Iowa barns.
Haden said the overarching goal of the organization is to continue to educate Iowans about the importance of barn restoration.
"Sometimes you have to seek people out and convince them that what they have is a gem," Haden said.