Cover Crops
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Iowa Cover Crop wins Team Award
Posted onIowa Cover Crop wins team award for statewide network of cover crop advocates By Rebekah Jones JEFFERSON, IA (IAWA) — Iowa Cover Crop (ICC), a Jefferson-based conservation business co-owned by Bill and Melissa Frederick and James and Megan Holz, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Iowa Watershed Team Impact Award. They will be recognized…
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Rooted in Stewardship: How Iowa Corn Growers Can Stay the Course on Conservation
Posted onBy Greg Wandrey, Ph.D., Director of Sustainability, Iowa Corn Growers Association As an Iowa row-crop farmer, you know that cover crop season doesn’t start after harvest—it starts during the growing season. Although most cover crops are planted after harvest, some of you are already seeding cover crop seed into the standing crop before harvest. It’s…
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Farmer leadership shines in NW Iowa
Posted onFarmer leadership shines in NW Iowa By Rebekah Jones In Northwest Iowa, a small but mighty movement is reshaping the way communities approach conservation. The Northwest Iowa Ag Stewardship Alliance, a grassroots coalition of local producers, is working to expand cover crops and no-till by putting farmers in the driver’s seat of sustainable agriculture. What…
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NE Iowa farmer leads the way in profitable conservation
Posted onBy Dan Looker The word, genius, brings to mind researchers in lab coats. Or Einstein’s shock of unruly white hair. As Loran Steinlage’s pickup truck bounces past a cornfield, genius isn’t how he describes himself. Yet each field on his farm near West Union, Iowa, is an experiment with an operator that fits…
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IAWA launches guide to compare Iowa cover crop payment programs
Posted onNews Release FOR RELEASE ON: June 25, 2024 CONTACT: Rebekah Jones, Cell: 515- 901-3147 | rjones@iaagwater.org IAWA launches guide to compare Iowa cover crop payment programs ANKENY, IA (IAWA) — By stacking incentives, some farmers could get paid $100 or more per acre for planting new cover crops, but it’s not always easy to keep…
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Water quality efforts blossom in the Cedar Valley
Posted onEastern Iowa farmers, landowners add more “Batch and Build” projects, cover crops By Dan Looker CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (IAWA) – In 2008, the Cedar River – namesake of the city of Cedar Rapids – surged from its banks to leave more than a tenth of the city in muck and destruction. That disaster, among the…
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Here to help – farmers support farmers in adding regenerative practices
Posted onIowa farmer, Dean Sponheim, nears 100,000 acres of cover crops with his entrepreneurial endeavors, after seeing successful cover crops on his own farm in 2012. By Dan Looker OSAGE, Iowa (IAWA) It’s a warm, sunny February day in Osage, Iowa, where about 100 farmers are gathered inside a meeting hall at the Mitchell County Fairgrounds.…
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Iowa regenerative farmer Kelly Garrett named Top Producer Award finalist
Posted onDENISON, Iowa (IAWA) – Sixth-generation Iowa farmer and regenerative ag advocate Kelly Garrett is one of just three finalists for the prestigious Farm Journal 2023 Top Producer of the Year award. Qualifying for this Top Producer magazine honor is a big deal for any farmer – the publication’s subscribers must meet operational requirements (2,000+ corn or soybean…
Posted in Cover Crops, Farmer champions, MAWQP, New, Nutrient Management, Press release, Spotlight Stories, SW Iowa -
When it comes to better soil health, context is key
Posted onNew Soil Health Interpretation Portal gives customized, “apples-to-apples” insights ANKENY, Iowa (IAWA) – It’s no secret that Iowa is blessed with great cropland, and the Iowa Soybean Association’s new, free-to-use Soil Health Interpretation Portal (SHIP) is helping farmers get the most out of their top-notch topsoil. The SHIP shows farmers how their soil is performing in the…
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Relationships, trust key to a sustainable future in Iowa agriculture
Posted onAg retailers join forces with farmers, local officials to scale up conservation practices in the Cedar River Source Water Partnership By Adam Sodders, IAWA NEWHALL, Iowa (IAWA) – In the rolling hills of eastern Iowa’s Cedar River watershed, an exciting new kind of soil and water conservation partnership is finding success. As interest in improving…