Farm News, IA
09-07-07
Culture of conservation
By DARCY DOUGHERTY MAULSBY, Farm News staff writer
The relentless thunderstorms that flooded much of Iowa and made last month the
wettest August on record have also highlighted the importance of area farmers’
conservation practices to improve soil and water quality for all Iowans.
To showcase the latest on-farm research focusing on conservation tillage,
cropping systems and nutrient management, producers and Iowa State
University scientists hosted an Iowa Learning Farm field day Thursday at the
Smeltzer demonstration farm southeast of Otho.
‘‘We’re creating a culture of conservation, thanks to the 30 creative, daring
farmers who are working with ILF projects across the state,’’ said Jerry DeWitt,
coordinator of the ILF program and director of the Ames-based Leopold
Center for Sustainable Agriculture. ‘‘We’re not doing this not because we have
to, but because we want to show what’s possible and create a better future for
our children and grandchildren.’’
The science-based ILF takes a grassroots approach by working with farmer
cooperators to demonstrate and promote innovative ways to improve soil and
water quality on their land while remaining profitable. The system also offers a
model for exchanging ideas among farmers, government agencies, scientists,
agribusinesses and the general public.
Webster County’s Smeltzer demonstration farm, which offers a unique setting for
an ILF, features a landscape suitable for showing conservation practices for both
flat and rolling ground. A stream running through the farm, which drains water
from 18,000 acres in the surrounding area, also helps illustrate various
streambank stabilization and buffer strip techniques.
‘‘It’s an exciting time in Iowa agriculture and conservation,’’ said Iowa Secretary
of Agriculture Bill Northey, a Spirit Lake-area farmer who spoke at the field day.
‘‘We need resources and partnerships to protect the productivity of our land, and
the ILF is making this happen.’’
Talking farmer to farmer
Two hundred years ago, more than 81 percent of Iowa was covered by perennial
tall-grass prairie and wetland an ecological system best adapted to the region’s
higher precipitation periods during the spring and fall, DeWitt noted. Since corn
and soybeans use little water during the spring and fall, reduced water usage
during the high precipitation periods increases the chance of runoff, which can
result in the loss of soil fertility and impaired bodies of water.
‘‘Today our dominant agricultural row-crop system is a ‘leaky’ system compared
to the more perennial vegetation of the past,’’ DeWitt said. ‘‘The ILF partners with
farmers to find ways to work more effectively with Iowa’s natural ecology while
using innovative practices to keep water, nutrients and soil where they belong.’’
Webb-area farmer Jerry Crew and ILF cooperator is conducting tests on his 600acre farm to determine optimum nitrogen applications for corn-on-corn, no-till
acres. ‘‘One of the biggest advantages of the ILF is that it’s an on-farm system,’’
said Crew, 72, who has practiced continuous no-till for the past 20 years.
‘‘Farmers listen to other farmers, and we’re sharing what we’re learning about
conservation strategies that are effective and profitable.’’
To help achieve these goals, the ILF has teamed up with a number of key
partners, including the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship,
the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation,
Iowa State University Extension, Iowa State University’s College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture, the Natural Resources Conversation Service and area conservation
districts in Iowa. Informing the public about the work of the ILF program is also
critical, DeWitt said.
‘‘The nonfarming public needs to be educated, because I don’t think they fully
appreciate what farmers are doing.’’
Lessons from the field
While it’s no secret that conservation tillage practices can maintain soil
productivity and minimize agriculture’s impacts on the environment, new
research is revealing how powerful these conservation practices can be.
‘‘When I started farming in 1981, we still plowed some of the corn ground,’’ said
Northey. ‘‘Now we’re no-till and ridge till, so a lot has changed.’’
Various studies have shown that no-till can increase soil organic matter by as
much as 1 ton per acre per year, according to Iowa State University Extension. In
a recent study, the loss of soil carbon as carbon dioxide/carbon equivalent
reached 1.9 pounds of soil carbon per acre in the first hour and 125 pounds of
soil carbon per acre in the first three weeks following moldboard plowing,
compared to no-tillage with residue losses of 0.60 pounds of soil carbon per acre
in the first hour and 73 pounds of soil carbon per acre in the first three weeks.
As the work of the ILF progresses, Webster County’s Patton said local project
leaders would like to someday build a permanent education facility on the
Smeltzer demonstration farm to help promote conservation methods that can be
implemented across north central Iowa. ‘‘Since the land is in a trust, it won’t be
sold. We’ll have years to help develop this farm into a classroom for
conservation.’’
For more information on the Iowa Learning Farm program, log onto
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/ilf/.