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 Webinars

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

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

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

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

January 31, 2024: Community Approaches to Pesticide Resistance Management

January 31, 2024: Community Approaches to Pesticide Resistance Management

With Katherine Dentzman

Webinars, ConservationAlena WhitakerJanuary 31, 2024conservation, farmers, pesticide resistance, herbicide, pesticide, weeds

January 24, 2024: Engaging Farms in Conservation Leadership

January 24, 2024: Engaging Farms in Conservation Leadership

With Amanda Gumbert

Webinars, Conservation, Water ConservationAlena WhitakerJanuary 24, 2024nitrogen, Mississippi River, water quality, conservation, farmers

January 17, 2024: Tile-drainage Decision Tool Helps Manage Agricultural Land and Reduce Nitrogen Pollution

January 17, 2024: Tile-drainage Decision Tool Helps Manage Agricultural Land and Reduce Nitrogen Pollution

With Chaoqun (Crystal) Lu

Webinars, Conservation, Water ConservationAlena WhitakerJanuary 17, 2024nitrogen, water quality, Mississippi River, tile drainage

January 10, 2024: Managing Saturated Buffers in a Flat Field: Impacts on Flow and Nitrate Load Treatment

January 10, 2024: Managing Saturated Buffers in a Flat Field: Impacts on Flow and Nitrate Load Treatment

With Gabe Johnson

Webinars, Conservation, Edge of Field, Water ConservationAlena WhitakerJanuary 10, 2024nitrogen, whole farm conservation, saturated buffers, water quality, edge of field

January 3, 2024: How do we Best Define and Promote Soil Health?

January 3, 2024: How do we Best Define and Promote Soil Health?

With Mike Castellano

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation Crops, Soil ConservationAlena WhitakerJanuary 3, 2024whole farm conservation, soil health, carbon, carbon sequestration, nitrogen

December 20, 2023: Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program: Certifying that Minnesota's Farms and Waters can Prosper Together

December 20, 2023: Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program: Certifying that Minnesota's Farms and Waters can Prosper Together

With Brad J. Jordahl Redlin

Webinars, Conservation, Conservation Crops, Soil Conservation, Water ConservationAlena WhitakerDecember 21, 2023water quality, whole farm conservation, Minnesota Dept of Agriculture, soil health