Taking a Chance on Cover Crops

Fred and Vicki Abels farm about 400 acres just outside Holland, Iowa, and are Iowa Learning Farms farmer partners since 2008. Fred started farming in 1981 on his family’s farm in Grundy County where he grows corn, soybeans, and is starting to grow rye. Currently, Fred is serving as Chair of the Grundy County Soil and Water Conservation District and drives a bus route for the local school district.

After attending several Practical Farmers of Iowa field days, Fred became interested in conservation practices and switched to no-till soybeans in 1994. In the mid-2000s, he started strip-tilling before corn and immediately sold all conventional tillage equipment. He is quite adept at modifying equipment to suit his needs, and doesn’t want access to the right machinery to be a deterrent. Fred said, “If you don’t have the equipment, hire a neighbor for a few years until you get your footing and learn the ins and outs.”

In 2009, he started using cover crops, and in the early days had them custom flown on. He has since bought a grain drill and now sees better germination rates. After fourteen years of using cover crops, Fred has the process down but acknowledges that it is not always perfect. “The first season, soon after the cover crops were seeded, we had a big hailstorm that cut the corn down and those acres were too shaded for the cover crops to take,” said Fred.

“In 2011, I thought we had another bad year because nothing germinated,” said Fred, “but then the rye grew in the spring. I was nervous because I had to quickly figure out a termination method, but that fall harvest, that small area of the field where the cover crops were, I had some of the best yields.” Reflecting later that winter, Fred remembered hot winds drying out the surface of his fields, except the area where cover crops had been. Since then, Fred uses cover crops on all of his acres.

In addition, he’s been able to significantly reduce fertilizer rates. During good growth years, his cover crops work as a great weed suppressant against herbicide resistant weeds like waterhemp. Fred has noticed his soil is much less compacted now too, due to a combination of his minimal tillage practices and cover crops. “I enjoy that challenges that have come up as I’ve made cover crops, no-till, and strip till work on my farm,” explained Fred.

Fred has many plans for the future and hopefully new challenges to troubleshoot. He recently started growing twin row rye with corn in the gap on some acres and wants to build a bioreactor to help reduce nitrate. Fred encourages farmers and landowners to learn more about conservation practices and to start making changes. “It is easier to till the soil like your dad used to because no-till, strip-till, and cover crops require more management, but it’s worth it. I have less compacted soil, excellent weed control, and I’ve been able to cut fertilizer rates.” 

–Alena Whitaker

NOW HIRING: Water Outreach Specialist

Plant the seeds of stewardship as a Water Outreach Specialist with ISU’s Water Rocks! and Iowa Learning Farms programs! The Water Rocks!/Iowa Learning Farms team is seeking a dynamic, high-energy educator to apply creative and fun approaches to teaching science concepts, inspiring Iowa’s youth to see the interconnectedness of water, land, wildlife, and humans.

The ideal candidate for this Water Outreach Specialist position will hold a BS degree in environmental science, agronomy, water resources, or comparable natural resources field, have experience with conservation and natural resources-focused outreach, strong writing skills, experience with content/data management, field work experience, and the ability to drive a truck/tow a trailer. Applications are due April 28             

Now Hiring: Anthropology/Sociology Postdoc Opportunity

We are currently seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join the Iowa Learning Farms team!

Anthropology/Sociology Postdoctoral Position NOW AVAILABLE at Iowa State University, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Department. Position must have some understanding of Midwest environmental issues, including conservation practices, water quality and wildlife habitat. Position will work under the supervision of Dr. Jacqueline Comito, Anthropologist and Manager of Research, Adjunct Assistant Faculty with Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management.

Must have strong qualitative research skills that go beyond interviews skills to direct observation, participation in the life of the communities, coffee shop discussions, exploratory conversations, media analysis and social mapping. Position will require a good deal of travel in Iowa. Additional duties of position will include writing of journal articles, grants, reports and the occasional blog or other public outreach. Since this position is affiliated with the Iowa State University Conservation Learning Group and the award winning Iowa Learning Farms program, duties will also include some outreach and education throughout Iowa as well as public presentations. Strong writing and communication skills a must. This is a wonderful opportunity for an individual who is interested in using their research to inform and improve our community outreach and educational programs.

This is a two-year position with the possibility of an extension. PhD in anthropology or sociology is preferred but other PhDs with qualitative research experience will be considered. Would like position to start by July 10, 2023, at the latest. Contact Jacqueline Comito via email or phone (515-231-8002) to learn more about the position and the application process.

Wildlife and Working Farms are an Excellent Pairing

Please join us for the Iowa Learning Farms (ILF) webinar at noon CDT, Wednesday, Aug. 17, featuring Jorgen Rose, habitat and policy viability manager at Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI). Rose is part of the PFI team that works with farmers to connect them with people, networks, education and resources they need to build more resilient farms and communities. He has a strong interest in integrating multi-benefit edge-of-field and habitat conservation practices into farming operations benefits wildlife, water quality and soil health.

In the webinar, “Making Space for Wildlife on Working Farms,” Rose will discuss broad strategies for integrating wildlife conservation practices into different types of agricultural operations, including field crop operations, specialty crop farms and livestock operations. In addition, he will offer insights into the direct and indirect benefits of establishing and maintaining wildlife habitats as an element of working farms. Rose will also highlight the different services and outreach provided by PFI to aid farmers in learning about and implementing working-lands habitat conservation practices.

Blooming prairie strip

“We know that many farmers are interested in edge-of-field practices that contribute to water quality protections while also making space for wildlife, building soil health and fighting climate change, in ways that align with operating a financially successful farming business,” said Rose. “PFI is dedicated to providing access to information, education and resources that empower farmers to make decisions for their lands which also support their conservation and financial goals.”

Participants in Iowa Learning Farms Conservation Webinars are encouraged to ask questions of the presenters. People from all backgrounds and areas of interest are encouraged to join.

Webinar Access Instructions

To participate in the live webinar, shortly before noon CDT Aug. 17:

Click this URL, or type this web address into your internet browser: https://iastate.zoom.us/j/364284172

Or go to https://iastate.zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 364 284 172

Or join from a dial-in phone line:

Dial: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 876 9923

Meeting ID: 364 284 172

The webinar will also be recorded and archived on the ILF website, so that it can be watched at any time. Archived webinars are available at https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/page/webinars. For a list of upcoming webinars visit https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/page/events.

A Certified Crop Adviser board-approved continuing education unit (CEU) has been applied for. Those who participate in the live webinar are eligible. Information about how to apply to receive the credit will be provided at the end of the live webinar.

Join Us in December for Conservation Conversations

I am excited to announce that we are launching a new series of in-person social outreach events aimed at engaging farmers in informal conversations about conservation topics that may be on their minds. As the names suggest, Coffee and Conservation will be held in the mornings with coffee, and Conservation on Tap will be held in the evening at venues where beer is available to accompany the conversations.

Our intent with these events is to help build community by encouraging farmers to talk with ILF and their peers about topics important within the community, what keeps them up at night, what challenges they see with conservation practices, and what they want to learn more about. There will be no formal presentations or agenda, just a chance to talk, ask questions, listen and learn while enjoying a beverage and provided food.

Each hourlong event will feature ISU extension professionals eager to answer questions. In addition, ILF will provide coffee and breakfast items at the morning events, and a meal for the evening gatherings. December events already on the calendar include:

December 7 | 8:30-9:30am
Waverly City Hall
200 1st St NE
Waverly, IA 50677
RSVP: 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu
Flyer

December 9 | 6:00-7:00pm
Drink Me Brewing
210 9th St
Sibley, IA 51249
RSVP: 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu
Flyer

December 15 | 8:30-9:30am
Warren Cultural Center
154 Public Square
Greenfield, IA 50849 
RSVP: 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu
Flyer

ILF and the local extension staff are looking forward to sitting down with the participants to talk about what is on their minds, but also to explore what might make good field day or webinar subjects that would be relevant in the local community or region. We are looking forward to learning alongside everyone else who attends.

The events are produced in collaboration with the Conservation Learning Group and county extension offices. To learn more about Coffee and Conservation or Conservation on Tap, please visit https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/page/events

–Liz Ripley

Building on My Background

My name is Garrett Little, and I am a rising senior in Agricultural Engineering at Iowa State University. I grew up in rural Hershey, Pennsylvania where I developed a love for the outdoors. I was also involved in 4-H where I enjoyed showing pigs and sheep at local fairs.

My passion for raising livestock as a youth inspired me to study animal production systems. My early coursework and experiences, however, shifted this focus towards land and water resources. My summer with the Water Rocks! team has further solidified my confidence in making this change.

The short amount of time I have spent interning with Iowa Learning Farms and Water Rocks! has been extremely rewarding. Every day is a new adventure and packed full of learning opportunities. Whether it be an outreach event at a county fair, school visit or working in the field, I leave work knowing more about conservation and water quality than the day before.

I expressed my love for the outdoors while growing up and this summer has had no shortage of working in an outdoor environment. Working in the field is where I have the most fun. From monarch monitoring in prairies to analyzing soil health through infiltration testing, it always feels like you are contributing to something larger than yourself. Some days it may be hot, humid and a lot of walking, but assisting with research alongside other amazing interns always ends as a good day.

In addition, this internship has allowed me to explore Iowa more than I ever have. Growing up on the east coast, it is sad to say, I was very unfamiliar with the Midwest. This internship has made me extremely familiar with Iowa and driving to every corner of the state has been a blessing. I have seen many of the conservation practices discussed in the internship being applied across the state including prairie strips, saturated buffers, treatment wetlands, bioreactors and more. Learning about these best management practices is one thing but exploring the state and seeing them be applied has been exciting.

Travelling the state has allowed me to meet and talk with people from many different backgrounds. Early in the summer, I was nervous to talk with community members for fear of not knowing how to answer questions or contribute to the conversation. The knowledge I have gained from the internship and my coursework made these conversations go quite well and I was more than comfortable answering their questions. I particularly enjoyed talking about our new wetland models and answering questions about them. I am looking forward to attending more events to share the importance of wetlands with adults and youth alike.

Overall, my experience to date has proved to myself that conservation and soil and water quality are my true passion. It is rewarding to not only educate, but to also be educated by those around me. I am excited for the remainder of the internship and grateful to have had this amazing opportunity.

–Garrett Little

Farmland wildlife making a comeback

How do we maintain productive, profitable farms in Iowa that protect soil resources, support biodiversity, and send cleaner water downstream?  Tune in to the December Iowa Learning Farms webinar to learn more about these challenges and opportunities from Dr. Adam Janke. Janke serves as Assistant Professor in Natural Resources Ecology and Management and Extension Wildlife Specialist at Iowa State University.

Many wildlife species in Iowa have exhibited consistent population declines over recent decades. However, contrary to popular belief, these population declines are not due to the expansion of agricultural land. Farmed acres in Iowa have actually declined when compared to the 1930s.

However, what has changed dramatically is the intensification and homogenization of agricultural production. Comparing the 1930s to now, the diversity of cropping systems has dramatically decreased, hedgerows and weedy areas have all but disappeared, and there has been a clear trend towards uniformity on the landscape. Put simply, all of this points to fewer places for wildlife to live.
While much recent attention has been focused on water quality-related conservation practices that align with the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, Janke emphasizes that many of these conservation practices also offer great benefits to farmland wildlife.

Janke points out, “Changes in land use intended to address water quality can also address wildlife concerns in Iowa’s Wildlife Action Plan.” (Did you know that Iowa has over 400 species identified as Species of Greatest Conservation Need?!)
In order for farmland wildlife to thrive, Janke emphasizes three big needs:

• Native diversity: Wildlife favor native plants over non-natives, and there is a particular benefit to having diverse vegetation providing food resources over the course of the season.
• Natural features: Natural features like herbaceous vegetation and shallow, pooled water provide important food resources and habitat for wildlife.
• Size/connectivity: In order to make meaningful gains, wildlife need adjacent or near-adjacent, connected parcels of land that provide quality habitat.

Riparian buffers, wetlands, and strategic integration of prairie into row crop productions can make a huge difference for wildlife!  Watch the full webinar here to learn more about studies that Janke and colleagues have conducted tracking farmland wildlife here in Iowa, along with additional insight into the relationships and synergies between water, soil, and wildlife stewardship.

–Ann Staudt

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P.S. Stay tuned for further information about next month’s Iowa Learning Farms webinar (date TBA).  We look forward to kicking things off with a joint webinar-podcast featuring a conversation with Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig.

Saving Time (and money) with Conservation

On this month’s episode of the Conservation Chat, host Jacqueline Comito catches up with Ben and Andy Johnson, cover crop farmers in the Conservation Learning Labs(CLL) project in Floyd County. Ben was previously featured on the chat in 2017 as the CLL was completing the first year. Now three years in, they are pleased with benefits of cover crops in their no-till and strip-till system and plan to continue using them on as many acres as they can get seeded.

The Johnsons farm together raising corn and soybeans and managing a ewe and feeder lamb herd. With time as a limiting factor, they started using no-till 15 years ago and began strip-tilling their corn acres for over ten years. They have noticed significant changes in increased infiltration of heavy rains and reduced soil erosion, compared to neighbors who use more intensive tillage practices.

“We’re more competitive because of the conservation. There are a lot of farmers in our area that were attending meetings last year on ‘You didn’t get your tillage done, what are you going to do?’. We were planting as guys were trying to do tillage this spring,” stated Johnson. “We started planing on Easter this year (around April 21st). Our fields were fit then and we started planting corn and soybeans – even with our limited manpower because we’re not running a field cultivator.”

In addition to soil and water quality benefits, the labor and time savings make the Johnsons true supporters of no-till and strip-till.

“If it didn’t work, I wouldn’t do it. I’m just like everyone else. If I thought I could plow that field and have 20 bushels more corn, that’s probably what I would be doing,” noted Ben.

When asked what was meant by working, Andy responded “If I can save on time and labor and still have the same yields or better. I would rather be with my kids than pulling an implement through the field.”

Be sure to listen the rest of the chat to hear how about the other benefits they are experiencing and learn more about the CLL project.

Find the Conservation Chat on iTunes and subscribe today!

–Liz Juchems 

It’s time to change, again

Mark Licht | Assistant Professor of Agronomy and Extension Cropping Systems Specialist, Iowa State University

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been involved in several conversations regarding the need for change. Change is hard. It doesn’t matter what the profession. Change brings about anxiety and discontent. We do not like change forced upon us. But, we do accept change when it meets our current wants and needs. Sometimes change can be incremental, and sometimes it can be abrupt.

Since humans first began domesticating plants, agriculture has experienced incremental change. Most of the change focused on agricultural intensification – increasing agricultural production per unit of input. These inputs included labor, land, time, fertilizer, seed and pesticides to name just a few. Mechanization in labor from humans, to horses and oxen, to tractors has allowed greater productivity which led to expansion of land in agricultural production.

Throughout the last 150 years, incremental change has begun to happen more rapidly. Think of how corn production moved from open pollinated, to hybrid, to transgenic cultivars. Iowa led the nation in the adoption of both hybrid and transgenic cultivars. For centuries, fertility needs have been met with animal manure.  We shifted to commercial fertilizers in the mid-1900s and the necessity for livestock in individual production systems was eliminated. Over the last 25 years, precision agriculture advancements have yet again created efficiencies of labor, time and use of chemical inputs (or fertilizers and pesticides). Agricultural intensification has only been possible through change.

Just like changes throughout these 150 years brought greater production and ability to feed more people, we are at another formative point in advancing agricultural systems. Our systems need to be conservation focused. The time to adopt cover crops, conservation tillage, CREP wetlands, saturated buffers, bioreactors, and diverse rotations is now.

What makes this change especially difficult, is the time-frame to change and the pressures weighing on farmers from many directions. Consumers are demanding sustainable practices. Our neighbors in Iowa and beyond are demanding cleaner water and healthier soil. We need to change more abruptly than we would like to sustainably supply the needs of the world’s population now and for many generations.

As I talk to farmers about why they do not make incremental changes towards the adoption of conservation practices, I frequently hear “this is the way we have always done it,” or “I am nearing the end of my career, I will let the next generation make the change.”

These are excuses. We have to be able to see past our own lifetimes. As we look back on the lives of our parents and grandparents, we can see this isn’t the way we have always done it. More importantly, we can’t wait for the next generation to be in charge to change. What about two or three generations to come? Can we think in a longer scope? What will they say when they look back to this time?

Iowa has phenomenal farmers who have been champions for conservation. I am quite confident these farmers see change as an opportunity. Many of these champions have or will be transitioning the farming operation to the next generation. They have made incremental changes to adopt and perfect conservation practices over the course of many years. Often, they are still looking for ways to improve.

Crop production systems need to be changed to provide soil health and nutrient reduction benefits. We need to work together to find the right practices for each farm and each field. Iowa agriculture is in a unique position to lessen the impact of agricultural intensification.

Change is inevitable. To continue with our current systems, is not an option. Let’s continue to innovate together – as Iowa farmers always have. Let’s commit to making the sustainable changes needed while those changes are voluntary and can be made on an individualized basis.

– Mark Licht

 

Getting Conservation in the Hands of Local Citizens

Our newest episode of the Conservation Chat podcast, A Passion for Prairies, features Prairie Rivers of Iowa’s David Stein. He is truly passionate about helping people learn more about their local ecology through on-the-ground outreach across central Iowa. Enthusiastic may be an understatement when it comes to Stein’s zeal and motivation to provide a personal, education-minded, place-based approach to conservation on working lands!

As a Watershed Program Coordinator with the non-profit (former RC&D) Prairie Rivers of Iowa, Stein holds a unique position in that the area he serves here in the heart of Iowa is at the direct interface of urban areas and prime agricultural land. That presents both unique opportunities and challenges when it comes to water quality, soil health, and facilitating corridors of habitat for wildlife.

Stein is particularly passionate about native prairie establishment, and its benefits to reduce runoff, improve water quality, build soil health, and provide habitat/food resources to many species of wildlife. Tune in to the Conservation Chat to hear about Prairie Rivers of Iowa’s targeted efforts to establish corridors of habitat, creating uninterrupted flyways between publicly-owned and privately-owned lands.

Photographs by Prairie Rivers of Iowa

Interested in doing some native landscaping, establishing a pollinator garden, or other native plantings on your land?  Look no farther that Prairie Rivers of Iowa’s Native Plant Seed Bank! Tune in to the podcast to learn more about this awesome new initiative, the brainchild of Stein (and his proudest accomplishment on the job thus far). The seed bank is currently offering 10 different species of native plants (flowers and grasses), and they are accepting deposits of native seed, as well—an incredible conservation resource for central Iowa.

Catch this episode and all previous podcast episodes on the Conservation Chat website and through iTunes.

–Ann Staudt