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

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

April 24, 2024: Social-ecological Suitability of Agroforestry in the Midwest

April 24, 2024: Social-ecological Suitability of Agroforestry in the Midwest

With Sarah Castle

Conservation, Webinars, Conservation CropsAlena WhitakerApril 29, 2024silvopasture, windbreak, agroforestry, alley cropping

April 17, 2024: Pay for Performance: Cost-share Alternative to Increase Nonpoint Source Pollution Reduction

April 17, 2024: Pay for Performance: Cost-share Alternative to Increase Nonpoint Source Pollution Reduction

With Timothy Rosen

Conservation, Webinars, Soil Conservation, Water ConservationAlena WhitakerApril 18, 2024watershed, cost share, nonpoint source, pollution

April 10, 2024: One Size Does Not Fit All: Targeting Conservation Practices to Reduce Phosphorus Loss Risk in the Lake Erie Watershed

April 10, 2024: One Size Does Not Fit All: Targeting Conservation Practices to Reduce Phosphorus Loss Risk in the Lake Erie Watershed

With Merrin Macrae

Conservation, Webinars, Soil ConservationAlena WhitakerApril 15, 2024phosphorus, watershed

April 3, 2024: Pasture Management Following a Drought

April 3, 2024: Pasture Management Following a Drought

With Denise Schwab

Conservation, Webinars, LivestockAlena WhitakerApril 4, 2024pasture, livestock, drought

Field Day Archive: A New Direction in Cover Crops: Developing Perennial Ground Cover for Corn Systems in the Midwest

Field Day Archive: A New Direction in Cover Crops: Developing Perennial Ground Cover for Corn Systems in the Midwest

Field Day Archive, Conservation, Cover CropsAlena WhitakerMarch 22, 2024RegenPGC, perennial cover, cover crops

March 20, 2024: Grazing Cattle on Covers

March 20, 2024: Grazing Cattle on Covers

With Patrick Wall

Conservation, Webinars, Cover Crops, LivestockAlena WhitakerMarch 20, 2024cover crops, winter cover crop, livestock

March 13, 2024: Winter Cover Crop Effects on the Optimum N Rate of Corn Across Multi-state Field Experiments

March 13, 2024: Winter Cover Crop Effects on the Optimum N Rate of Corn Across Multi-state Field Experiments

With Hanna Poffenbarger

Conservation, Webinars, Water Conservation, Cover CropsAlena WhitakerMarch 14, 2024cover crops, N rate, nitrogen, winter cover crop

Field Day Archive: Relay Intercropping: Exploring Sustainable Intensification on Iowa's Landscape through Relay Intercropping

Field Day Archive: Relay Intercropping: Exploring Sustainable Intensification on Iowa's Landscape through Relay Intercropping

Field Day Archive, Conservation, Conservation CropsAlena WhitakerMarch 7, 2024relay intercropping, cereal rye

March 6, 2024: Does Tile Drainage Pay if You Only Get 20 inches of Precipitation?

March 6, 2024: Does Tile Drainage Pay if You Only Get 20 inches of Precipitation?

With Lindsay Pease

Conservation, Webinars, Water ConservationAlena WhitakerMarch 7, 2024water management, tile drainage, precipitation, economics

February 28, 2024: Soil Conservation and Water Management - the Keys to Improving Climate Resilience

February 28, 2024: Soil Conservation and Water Management - the Keys to Improving Climate Resilience

With Rick Cruse

Conservation, Soil Conservation, WebinarsAlena WhitakerFebruary 29, 2024soil health, climate, water management

February 21, 2024: A Virtuous Cycle of Soil Organic Matter in Diversified Cropping Systems

February 21, 2024: A Virtuous Cycle of Soil Organic Matter in Diversified Cropping Systems

With Steven Hall

Conservation, Conservation Crops, Soil Conservation, WebinarsAnn StaudtFebruary 21, 2024

February 14, 2024: Woodchip Bioreactors: Expanding Carbon Sources and Implementation Strategies

February 14, 2024: Woodchip Bioreactors: Expanding Carbon Sources and Implementation Strategies

With Michelle Soupir

Webinars, Conservation, Edge of Field, Water ConservationAlena WhitakerFebruary 14, 2024bioreactos, woodchips, nitrate, nitrate reduction, corn cob

Field Day Archive: Woodchips and Water Quality: Exploring Species and Chipping Methods to Maximize Bioreactor Efficiency

Field Day Archive: Woodchips and Water Quality: Exploring Species and Chipping Methods to Maximize Bioreactor Efficiency

Field Day Archive, Conservation, Water Conservation, Edge of FieldAlena WhitakerFebruary 9, 2024water quality, forestry, bioreactors, woodchips

February 7, 2024: Partners Below Ground - Opportunities for Management of Plant-Fungal Symbioses

February 7, 2024: Partners Below Ground - Opportunities for Management of Plant-Fungal Symbioses

With Bryan Emmett

Webinars, Conservation, Soil ConservationAlena WhitakerFebruary 7, 2024fungi, soil health, AMF