Resources

All of our resources are available from this page. You can also visit the specific pages for individual topics to get focused information on those areas.

Conservation

Conservation encompasses many areas - soil, water, and crop considerations all play a part. We offer a variety of practical resources to help you find the answers to your questions.

"How resilient are our lands here in the Midwest? What is our ability to retain productivity if we have another long drought or continual flooding? Will people still be farming in Iowa 1,500 years from now? Or even 200 years from now? The decisions we make today about our natural resources will affect agricultural production 50 years from now."
--from the video "The Work of Our Hands"

Conservation Resources

Cover Crops

Cover crops are a great way to improve soil health. Many Iowa farmers are adding cover crops to their crop rotations so soil stays covered when the fields are not growing other crops. Cover crops also improve soil organic matter and slow water runoff.

Farmers have many questions about incorporating cover crops. Most asked questions include: what kinds of plants can be used, when and how to seed and when and how to terminate. With field days and workshops, Iowa Learning Farms strives to help farmers, and other interested people, find the answers to these questions and more.

Cover Crop Resources

Edge of Field

Edge-of-field practices play a crucial role in meeting the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy goals of improving water quality through reducing nitrogen and phosphorus in Iowa's water bodies. Edge-of-field practices involve drainage water management, bioreactors, buffers, saturated buffers, denitrifying wetlands, terraces and sediment control.

Edge of Field Resources

Relay Intercropping

Relay intercropping is a multi-year, multi-species cropping system that allows for 3 harvestable crops (small grain, soybean, corn) in 2 years.

View recent webinars, blogs and publications from ongoing research farm and on-farm demonstrations.

Relay Intercropping

Field Day Toolkit

This Field Day Toolkit is the product of Iowa Learning Farms’ many years of planning and hosting field day events across the state of Iowa. While ILF utilizes many different outreach approaches, the importance of farmer-to-farmer interactions cannot be overstated. Field days do matter!

Field Day Toolkit

Recent Resources

Posts tagged wetlands

October 30, 2024: Improving Water Quality Outcomes with More Strategic Floodplain Restoration

October 30, 2024: Improving Water Quality Outcomes with More Strategic Floodplain Restoration

With Dani Winter Lay

Conservation, Webinars, Water ConservationAlena WhitakerOctober 30, 2024floodplain, floodplain restoration, wetlands, river, nitrate reduction

May 1, 2024: Urban Wetlands 101

May 1, 2024: Urban Wetlands 101

With John Swanson

Conservation, Webinars, Water Conservation, Edge of FieldAlena WhitakerMay 1, 2024wetlands, water quality, flood mitigation, urban conservation

Oxbow Restoration Toolkit

Oxbow Restoration Toolkit

Learn about the oxbow wetland restoration process with this toolkit.

Edge of FieldAlena WhitakerFebruary 1, 2024wetlands, oxbow, restoration

Field Day Archive: Pasturing Oxbows: Optimizing Benefits to the Farm, Water and Wildlife

Field Day Archive: Pasturing Oxbows: Optimizing Benefits to the Farm, Water and Wildlife

Field Day Archive, Conservation, Water Conservation, Soil Conservation, Edge of Field, LivestockAlena WhitakerJanuary 18, 2024livestock, grazing, wetlands, oxbow, native grasses, perennial, water quality

June 14, 2023: Water Quality Wetlands in Iowa

June 14, 2023: Water Quality Wetlands in Iowa

With Shane Wulf

Webinars, Conservation, Water Conservation, Conservation CropsLiz RipleyJune 15, 2023conservation, nutrient loss, wetlands, water quality

Infographic: Iowa Watershed Approach - Wetlands

Infographic: Iowa Watershed Approach - Wetlands

Learn more about wetlands in this informative infographic from Iowa State University Extension.

Edge of FieldLiz RipleyJuly 6, 2022wetlands

Infographic: Wetlands Implementation

Infographic: Wetlands Implementation

Learn about the unique aspects of wetlands in this infographic.

Edge of FieldLiz RipleyJuly 6, 2022wetlands

It Begins with You - Wetlands Implementation

It Begins with You - Wetlands Implementation

Wetlands are vital to life as we know it. These amazing, diverse, and biologically productive ecosystems provide a multitude of services: water filtration, trapping of sediment, transformation of pollutants, carbon storage, wildlife habitat, and beauty. Understanding the ecological importance of wetlands, as well as how they function, will help us all better appreciate these vibrant—and vital—parts of our landscape.

Edge of FieldLiz RipleyJuly 6, 2022wetlands