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 in Conservation

November 15, 2023: Perennial and Winter Annual Crops for Economic and Environmental Benefit

November 15, 2023: Perennial and Winter Annual Crops for Economic and Environmental Benefit

With Matt Leavitt

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation Crops, Water Conservation, Soil ConservationLiz RipleyNovember 15, 2023soil, soil erosion, water quality, perennial, perennial cover, Kernza, small grain

November 1, 2023: Movement of Soil in Corn and Soybean Fields Managed with Prairie Strips

November 1, 2023: Movement of Soil in Corn and Soybean Fields Managed with Prairie Strips

With Jessica Nelson

Webinars, ConservationLiz RipleyNovember 1, 2023soil, soil erosion, prairie strips

October 25, 2023: Taking Action for Pollinators Through Plant.Grow.Fly

October 25, 2023: Taking Action for Pollinators Through Plant.Grow.Fly

With Christine Eckles

Webinars, ConservationLiz RipleyOctober 25, 2023pollinators, monarch, monarch butterfly

October 18, 2023: Water Issues in Iowa: The Urban-Rural Divide Revisited

October 18, 2023: Water Issues in Iowa: The Urban-Rural Divide Revisited

With Jacqueline Comito

Webinars, Conservation, Water ConservationLiz RipleyOctober 18, 2023water, water quality

October 11, 2023: Does Climate Change Change Our Water Quality Challenges and Design of Drainage Systems?

October 11, 2023: Does Climate Change Change Our Water Quality Challenges and Design of Drainage Systems?

With Matt Helmers

Webinars, Conservation, Water Conservation, LivestockLiz RipleyOctober 11, 2023water, water quality, nutrient loss, drainage, climate change

October 5, 2023: When Wells Run Short - Options for Livestock Farmers When Water Becomes an Issue

October 5, 2023: When Wells Run Short - Options for Livestock Farmers When Water Becomes an Issue

With Daniel Andersen

Webinars, Conservation, Water Conservation, LivestockLiz RipleyOctober 5, 2023water, livestock, water stress, water supply

October 4, 2023: Drainage for the Long-Haul: Impacts on Crop Yields, Soil Health and Water Quality

October 4, 2023: Drainage for the Long-Haul: Impacts on Crop Yields, Soil Health and Water Quality

With Eileen Kladivko

Webinars, Conservation, Water Conservation, Conservation CropsLiz RipleyOctober 5, 2023water, water quality, soil health, tile drainage

September 27, 2023: Management Practices and Techniques for Streambank Stability

September 27, 2023: Management Practices and Techniques for Streambank Stability

With Dan Kirby

Webinars, Conservation, Water ConservationLiz RipleySeptember 27, 2023water, water quality, streambank stability

September 20, 2023: Using Data to Understand the Connections in the Iowa Food-Energy-Water Nexus

September 20, 2023: Using Data to Understand the Connections in the Iowa Food-Energy-Water Nexus

With Júlia Brittes Tuthill

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation Crops, Water ConservationLiz RipleySeptember 21, 2023water, water quality, nutrient loss

September 13, 2023: Cover Crop Impacts on Surface Runoff, Sediment and Phosphorus Losses

September 13, 2023: Cover Crop Impacts on Surface Runoff, Sediment and Phosphorus Losses

With Nathan Nelson

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation Crops, Water Conservation, Cover CropsLiz RipleySeptember 13, 2023water, cover crops, erosion, phosphorus, water quality

September 6, 2023: Crop Response to Excess and Deficit Water Stress

September 6, 2023: Crop Response to Excess and Deficit Water Stress

With Jeff Strock

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation Crops, Water ConservationLiz RipleySeptember 7, 2023water, water stress, crop response

August 30, 2023: Corn Stover Harvest Impacts in Central Iowa

August 30, 2023: Corn Stover Harvest Impacts in Central Iowa

With Rob Malone, Claire Phillips, Peter O’Brien, Doug Karlen

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation Crops, Soil ConservationLiz RipleyAugust 30, 2023corn stover, stover, soil, soil health, carbon, nutrients

August 23, 2023: CAFO Impacts, Costs, & Rulemaking in Iowa

August 23, 2023: CAFO Impacts, Costs, & Rulemaking in Iowa

With Alicia Vasto

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation CropsLiz RipleyAugust 23, 2023water quality

August 16, 2023: Comparing Infiltration Between Prairie Strips and Row Crop Fields Across Iowa

August 16, 2023: Comparing Infiltration Between Prairie Strips and Row Crop Fields Across Iowa

With Eric Henning

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation CropsLiz RipleyAugust 17, 2023conservation, prairie strips, prairie, infiltration, soil, water quality

August 9, 2023: How do Cover Crops Impact Residual Herbicides in Corn and Soybean?

August 9, 2023: How do Cover Crops Impact Residual Herbicides in Corn and Soybean?

With Bill Johnson

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation Crops, Cover CropsLiz RipleyAugust 9, 2023conservation, cover crop, cover crops, herbicide, weeds

August 2, 2023: Bee Health in Iowa's Agricultural Landscape

August 2, 2023: Bee Health in Iowa's Agricultural Landscape

With Randall Cass

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation CropsLiz RipleyAugust 2, 2023conservation, bees, honey bee, native bee, prairie strips