Proven practices find success on Iowa farms, benefit downstream neighbors By Dan Looker, IAWA Writer Iowa (IAWA) – Seven years ago Jon Bakehouse of Hastings, Iowa, started planting cover crops where he grows corn and soybeans with his father. Switching to no-till farming in the 1990s improved water filtration in wet spots on their West[…]
DES MOINES, Iowa (IAWA) – Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance Executive Director Sean McMahon hit the airwaves this week to talk about the Iowa N Initiative – a program helping Iowa farmers dial in their fields’ fertilizer needs. McMahon was joined on The Big Show’s “Clean Water Wednesday” by Melissa Miller of The N Initiative. The[…]
By Dan Looker Two farmer-led organizations in Iowa have a long history of research-based work—the Iowa Soybean Association and Practical Farmers of Iowa. For 11 years, ISA has run its own water lab – the Research Center for Farming Innovation (RFCI) – testing thousands of samples from streams and drainage tiles each year. Nitrates and[…]
By Dan Looker Iowa (IAWA) – Iowans can track nutrient reduction progress using two sources: the Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Council (INREC) and Iowa State University’s online reporting dashboard. INREC conducts statistically reliable surveys of ag retailers each year, meeting with agronomists to pick 1,000 representative locations. Other sources rely on data from government[…]
By Dan Looker, IAWA Writer Iowans have heard a lot about nitrogen fertilizer in recent years. Nitrogen and phosphorus are the two key nutrients that the state is working to manage better through the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. In May, the Strategy will be a decade old. As that anniversary nears, it’s worth taking a[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]
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[…]