Optimize Nitrogen Use Efficiency Using This New Tool

A new tool leveraging on-farm trial data helps Iowa farmers estimate optimal nitrogen application rates based on the unique needs of their fields. Using the web-based platform, farmers can explore trial results, understand how management and environment affect optimum nitrogen rates, and benchmark their own fields, improving their soil and their bottom line.

Warranty Pilot Program Limits Regenerative Agriculture Risks

Concerns about a potential economic hit have slowed adoption rates of regenerative ag practices like cover crops and rotational grazing among farmers and ranchers. But an innovative warranty pilot project in Iowa and the Chesapeake Bay area designed to limit risks could pave the way for a paradigm shift.

Oxbow Restoration: A Beautiful and Practical Conservation Solution

Interest in oxbow restoration is rising across Iowa. These small bodies of water provide a great habitat for fish and wildlife, plus they improve water management during both wet and dry years. Their status as a relatively low-cost and low-maintenance conservation project adds to their appeal.

Keep Fields Covered to Protect Yields from Erosion

Rick Cruse, Ph.D., director of the Iowa Water Center, encourages Iowa farmers to use 4R Plus practices to protect yields.

New Horizons for Conservation in Agriculture

Cows and cover crops are helping produce a renewable fuel source on Bryan Sievers’s Scott County, Iowa, farm. He’s using anaerobic digesters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon. And now, through a USDA-funded project, he’s demonstrating how other farms can do the same.

Poll Shows Majority of Iowa Farmers Influenced by 4R Plus Practices

The Iowa Farm and Rural Life poll shows a majority of farmers are being influenced by the 4R Plus program to adopt nutrient stewardship and conservation practices to help Iowa reach its nutrient reduction goals.

Agronomists, conservation professionals invited to cover crop workshop in Ames

Join us at the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI)’s free event this June, Cover Iowa: Agronomists in the Know Workshop, to learn and share information about cover crops, reduced tillage, extended rotation, and more.

Working Smarter, Not Harder, to Reap Benefits of Soil Conservation Practices in North-Central Iowa

This fifth-generation farmer uses soil conservation practices to improve soil structure and fine-tune his fertility program. While it takes a lot of patience and planning, benefits such as savings on fuel, fertilizer and time have him convinced it’s a worthy system.