There’s a whole lot of interest and excitement these days in edge-of-field conservation practices like woodchips bioreactors and saturated buffers. But how do you tell the story of these conservation practices, hidden underground, that reduce nitrate loads and benefit water quality?
Combine an empty cargo trailer, engineering prowess, mad graphic design skills, some superb printers, and creative, out-of-the-box thinking that Iowa Learning Farms is known for, and you get the Conservation Station ON THE EDGE!
The trailer fleet actually dates back more than ten years now. Back in 2007, there was the Iowa Learning Farms Conservation Systems Portable Rainfall Simulator (that’s a mouthful!). The trailers as we now know them were launched in 2010 with the original big blue Conservation Station (infamously referred to, by me, as a “conservation circus” in a news interview). The name resonated and the demand continued to grow … to the point of eventually having three Conservation Station trailers on the road, showcasing different land management practices, both agricultural and urban, and their impacts on water quality and soil health.
Fast forward to 2017. As more and more attention has been drawn to edge-of-field conservation practices, Jackie Comito and Matt Helmers proposed the idea of creating a new portable display that would specifically highlight these edge-of-field practices. And thus, in summer 2017, the idea for Conservation Station ON THE EDGE was born.
It would be almost a complete year before the trailer was fully functional and road ready, but it was worth the wait! Take a look at the timeline and several of the behind-the-scenes steps to make it all happen …
First things first, the trailer was re-wrapped to show off its rebranding as Conservation Station ON THE EDGE. It was designed to be visually harmonious with the existing Conservation Station trailer fleet, yet have its own identity for promoting edge-of-field practices.
In fall 2017, the bioreactor and saturated buffer models and turntable were constructed by Agri Drain Corporation. Operation of the models was finalized here on campus by Matt Helmers and Carl Pederson in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering – as this type of project often is, it was a last minute push to get it finalized in time to be debuted at ISU’s Watershed Academy.
And on October 24, 2017, Conservation Station ON THE EDGE made its maiden voyage! The watershed coordinators were excited about the models and the potential for helping farmers and landowners better understand how these edge-of-field conservation practices work.
The watershed coordinators in attendance also offered some outstanding suggestions for improving the models – like adding a center divider to differentiate between the bioreactor and saturated buffer, and integrating some additional graphics. At this point, the models were functional, but certainly had room for improvement in terms of enhancing their educational value. We were just glad to have the models working, even if they were being held in place by bungee cords!
However, we took the watershed coordinators’ feedback to heart over the next several months. Our Iowa Learning Farms graphic design team went to town this spring designing new posters that would help visitors take a step back and see how nitrates actually move … why these edge-of-field practices are important in the “suite of practices” needed to improve water quality.
Scientific illustrations were created in house (big shout out to Nathan Stevenson!) to visually depict the inner workings of these practices, down to the microbial scale (denitrification), to be shown on the inside of the bioreactor and saturated buffer models. We worked with Country Plastics to add a center divider between the models, which provided an outstanding “canvas” for additional text and graphics. The models were completely re-plumbed to accommodate these additions.
When it came time to install the graphics, ISU Printing & Copy Services was a critically important partner in making this all happen! The graphics themselves looked good on screen, but it wasn’t until we saw them printed full scale on adhesive vinyl car wrap that it really all came together! Lorraine and Dan with ISU Printing Services came out to the trailer in mid-May to install the graphics on site. It was fascinating to watch the process – the backing was peeled off, then each individual graphic was carefully installed with soapy water.
Finally, it’s the little details that make all the difference! Fake turf grass was added on top to illustrate that bioreactors and saturated buffers are actually found underground. Arrows were added to the PVC pipes, indicating direction of flow and what was found in each pipe.
And with that, Conservation Station ON THE EDGE was road ready for its second “maiden” voyage – back to the spring version of ISU’s Watershed Academy! We, along with the watershed coordinators, were thrilled with the improvements, and we are excited to be presenting at events all across the state this summer. Keep an eye out for the trailer at an event near you!
Would you like to request Conservation Station ON THE EDGE for an event you are planning? To request Conservation Station ON THE EDGE, email Liz Juchems at ejuchems@iastate.edu. We are currently accepting requests for fall 2018 and beyond.
Conservation Station ON THE EDGE is a collaboration of:
–Ann Staudt
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