More in Conservation

While Congressional committees debate the fate of farm bill conservation programs, Iowa farmers are putting those program funds to work, achieving documented results in improved water quality. One striking example is the Brushy Creek watershed project in Carroll County. Once the site of multiple fish kills in the Upper Brushy Creek and deemed unfit for recreation, due to high bacteria levels, the stream is now safe for swimming, kayaking and canoeing....More

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) signups start in one month, but economic pressures could be tempting many farmers to choose crops rather than conservation, says Paul Kassel, Iowa State University Extension field agronomist. "With grain prices and land prices as high as they are now, the economic situation may be causing farmers to return any retiring CRP acres into corn and soybean production," says Kassel. "However, before farmers do so, they need to make sure they have a realistic yield expectation. Former CRP ground typically has less yield potential than other land, due to soil type."...More

The USDA will conduct a four-week Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general signup, beginning on March 12 and ending on April 6. CRP has a 25-year legacy of successfully protecting the nation's natural resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the U.S....More

When September rolls around, Rodney Rulon gets the urge to take his soybean planter out of the shed and get to work. It may seem an odd time of year to watch a 31-row, 15-in. planter unfold in the field, but there is a method to his madness....More

They only made a couple of steps into a stand of native grass when Cullen Bryant and two grandchildren, Andrew and Jesselyn, flush a young covey of quail. The sudden burst of flight brightens the kids’ faces, but it also puts a smile on their grandpa’s face....More

Farmers have been given more time to terminate their cover crops after the excessively wet spring of last year prevented many of them from doing that in time to meet a crop insurance deadline....More

If your soil became worth 10 times what it is today, would you modify your management systems to better preserve it? When a parcel of Iowa land recently blew up the market at $20,000/acre, was that a reflection of the productivity of its soil? Or simply two aggressive buyers?...More