The regular monthly Iowa Learning Farms webinar for February is Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. This month’s guest speaker is Kevin Meyer, PhD student in the Iowa State University Department of Economics. He will focus on how decisions made by individuals, groups and any other “profit-seekers” can produce pollution as a byproduct of their decisions. Meyer will cover policies that can improve water quality such as the Conservation Reserve Program and the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, and whether these policies are effective from an economist’s perspective.   

TUNE-IN FEB. 17: Iowa Learning Farms monthly webinar will have Kevin Meyer from the ISU Department of Economics presenting. He’ll discuss how decisions made by individuals, groups and any other “profit-seekers” can produce pollution as a by-product of their decisions.

Are today’s water quality improvement programs effective?
Kevin Meyer was born in California, but grew up in Alaska where he graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2006. He earned his Master's Degree from Central Michigan University in 2010 and is now earning a PhD in economics from Iowa State.  Meyer works with Cathy Kling and Dave Keiser on the economics of water quality related to agriculture, focusing on environmental and resource economics. He has also authored research that contributes to the literature on the effects of climate change on U.S. agriculture.

The ILF webinars are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 1 p.m. They are free, and all that is needed to participate is a computer with Internet access. To log in, go to connect.extension.iastate.edu/ilf/ at 1 p.m. on the afternoon of the webinar and log in through the “guest” option. Webinar participants will be able to converse with Meyer by typing their questions through the chat function. The webinar will be recorded and archived on the ILF website for viewing at any time at extension.iastate.edu/ilf/Webinars/.

All the ILF webinars are archived and also available as podcasts
ILF has hosted a webinar every month since January 2011. To date, there are 60 webinars to view on a wide range of topics including soil erosion, cover crops, buffers, bioreactors and farmer perspectives. The webinar archives are also available in podcast form through iTunes.

Established in 2004, Iowa Learning Farms is building a Culture of Conservation, encouraging adoption of conservation practices. Farmers, researchers and ILF team members are working together to identify and implement the best management practices that improve water quality and soil health while remaining profitable. Partners of Iowa Learning Farms are the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship, Iowa State University Extension, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa Natural Resources Conservation Service and Iowa Department of Natural Resources (USEPA section 319), Conserva­tion Districts of Iowa, Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Water Center and Practical Farmers of Iowa. For more information about Iowa Learning Farms, visit extension.iastate.edu/ilf.