Conservation Compass

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  • Farmer conservation of critical habitat helping to restore endangered fish species

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    Key Takeaways The Topeka shiner is making a comeback thanks to restoration of their natural habitat (oxbows) alongside farmland in Iowa. Landowners can restore oxbows for free through projects co-led by IAWA. Oxbow restoration has other benefits including increased water quality, recreational areas, and flood mitigation. By Rebekah Jones, IAWA (Published March 8, 2022) Conservation…

  • Polk County achieves quicker farmland nitrate reduction, spreads success to other counties

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    [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] More Iowa counties aim to replicate the 50-fold increase in Polk County saturated buffers and bioreactors to improve water quality. By Kurt Lawton Remove the burdens for farm landowners to install voluntary water quality projects, and they sign up quickly. In fact, word-of-mouth project success has almost created a waiting list as 2023…

  • Don’t miss the deadline to enroll in the CRP program for 2022

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    [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] Farmers have until Friday, March 11, 2022 to enroll for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for 2022 under the General CRP signup. Grassland CRP signup runs from April 4 to May 13.  Enrolling land in CRP is one way farmers and landowners can contribute to improving water quality. The amount of nitrogen and…

  • USDA to pay farmers for cover crops second year in a row

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    [siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Image_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] Farmers who plant cover crops can get a $5 per acre savings on their crop insurance premiums for the second year in a row as part of the Pandemic Cover Crop Program. Farmers must report their cover crop acreage by March 15, 2022 to get payments. The USDA Pandemic Cover Crop Program was created in 2021 to make sure…

  • Landowners Collaborate to Improve Water Quality and Soil Health

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    Central Iowa field day revealed owner-tenant partnership success on nitrate reduction, cover crops and prairie strips benefits, and drone seeding.   By Kurt Lawton Lee Tesdell isn’t shy about his passion for conservation innovation as the sustainability caretaker and non-farming landowner of Tesdell Century Farm near Slater, Iowa. Attendees at one of his dozen or…

  • Find Cover Crop Services Quickly in New App and Website

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    By Kurt Lawton The goal is to connect Iowa farmers and service providers to boost cover crop success while improving soil health and water quality. Neighbors helping neighbors succeed with cover crops is the motto driving Stanley, Iowa, farmer Dan Bahe as he built Bahe Cover Crops into a local side business. “Once we learned…

  • Cover Crop Financial Incentives Expand for Fall Seeding

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    By Kurt Lawton PFI seeks more farmers to receive $10 to $40 per acre incentive to plant cover crops through one of eight programs across eight states. Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) offers a variety of private cover crop cost share programs that are still available if you sign up soon! Farmers can receive from…

  • Farmer Lessons Shared At Virtual Cover Crop Boot Camp

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    By Kurt Lawton Among the many key cover crop takeaway lessons, an overall theme was clear: “The most important rule: Plan your cover crop the same way you plan a cash crop—whether your goal is soil health and water infiltration, weed control, or livestock grazing.” Cover Crop Boot Camp 2.0 was a ‘virtual’ success thanks…

  • Company And Farmer Innovation Drive Cover Crop Interseeding Experience

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    By Kurt Lawton Farmer ingenuity, sometimes in tandem with equipment company innovators, has long succeeded in expanding a practice or making a widget work better. It’s especially intriguing if an idea brings an old piece of seldom-used machinery back to life. Remember that rotary hoe, parked in the tall grass somewhere behind a shed? Mark…

  • Fertilizer Innovation Uses Organic Waste to Feed Crops and Improve Soil, Water, and Air

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    By Kurt Lawton Photo credit: Joe Murphy, Iowa Soybean Association Creating precision fertilizer granules from animal manure, agricultural crop wastes like peanut and rice hulls, and even wastewater treatment organics, is a first-of-its-kind innovation ready to feed crops sustainably. The Florida-based ag-tech company, Anuvia Plant Nutrients, created a unique fertilizer product called SymTRX, produced in…