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 Water Conservation

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

July 5, 2023: Iowa Stormwater Management Manual Tools and Updates

July 5, 2023: Iowa Stormwater Management Manual Tools and Updates

With Paul Miller

Webinars, Conservation, Water Conservation, Conservation Crops, Edge of FieldLiz RipleyJuly 5, 2023conservation, water quality, urban conservation, stormwater

June 28, 2023: In-Field and Edge-of-Field Opportunities for Nutrient Reduction at a Community College

June 28, 2023: In-Field and Edge-of-Field Opportunities for Nutrient Reduction at a Community College

With Matthew Streeter

Webinars, Conservation, Water Conservation, Conservation Crops, Edge of FieldLiz RipleyJune 28, 2023conservation, water quality, nutrient loss, edge of field

June 21, 2023: Incorporating Trees to Your Farm with Agroforestry

June 21, 2023: Incorporating Trees to Your Farm with Agroforestry

With Jenn Ripp

Webinars, Conservation, Water Conservation, Conservation CropsLiz RipleyJune 21, 2023conservation, agroforestry, forestry

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

June 7, 2023: Maximizing N Availability to Crops While Minimizing N Losses to the Air

June 7, 2023: Maximizing N Availability to Crops While Minimizing N Losses to the Air

With Craig Drury

Webinars, Conservation, Water Conservation, Conservation CropsLiz RipleyJune 8, 2023conservation, nutrient loss, nutrient management

Field Day Archive: Beavers: Superheroes for Water Quality?

Field Day Archive: Beavers: Superheroes for Water Quality?

Field Day Archive, Conservation, Water Conservation, Soil ConservationLiz RipleyFebruary 9, 2023water quality, nitrogen, beavers, beaver dams, sediment, riparian

Field Day Archive: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Stacked Practices – Can Modified Blind Inlets at Terrace Sites Reduce N and P Loads?

Field Day Archive: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Stacked Practices – Can Modified Blind Inlets at Terrace Sites Reduce N and P Loads?

Field Day Archive, Conservation, Water Conservation, Soil ConservationLiz RipleyJanuary 19, 2023water quality, nitrogen, drainage, tile drainage, modified blind inlet

Field Day Archive: From Nuisance to Asset – Establishing Saturated Riparian Forest Buffers on the Landscape

Field Day Archive: From Nuisance to Asset – Establishing Saturated Riparian Forest Buffers on the Landscape

Field Day Archive, Conservation, Water Conservation, Soil ConservationLiz RipleyDecember 15, 2022water quality, nitrogen, drainage, tile drainage, saturated buffers, riparian forest saturated buffers, trees

Field Day Archive: Utilizing Drainage Water Recycling To Improve Water Quality and Manage Weather Risk

Field Day Archive: Utilizing Drainage Water Recycling To Improve Water Quality and Manage Weather Risk

Field Day Archive, Conservation, Water Conservation, Soil ConservationLiz RipleyDecember 8, 2022water quality, nitrogen, drainage, tile drainage, irrigation, drainage water recycling