According to the Iowa Learning Farms 2017 Field Day Evaluation Report, Iowa cover crop acres grew last year by about 22% to 760,000 total acres. While the growth during a time of shrinking profits in agriculture is notable, the rate of growth is 10% less than that measured in 2016. And the total number of cover crop acres in Iowa is still well below the goal of 12.5 million called for in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

Many of the new acres in 2017 were planted by experienced cover crop farmers. The majority (69%) of respondents to Iowa Learning Farms’ year-end evaluation questionnaire started seeding cover crops at least three years ago. Only 11% of respondents identified themselves as first-time cover crop users. Those respondents with cover crops reported an average of 46% of their total row crop acres in cover crops, 6% more than in 2016.

Farmers find value in covers
“It is encouraging to see growth in cover crop use among experienced cover crop farmers, even with low cash crop prices for corn and soybeans,” says Jamie Benning, Iowa State University Extension water quality program manager and Iowa Learning Farms adviser. “This growth indicates that farmers are finding value in planting cover crops and want to see those benefits on additional acres.”

The overall percentage of farmers who are using cost share to seed cover crop acres has increased by 7% over four years of Iowa Learning Farms evaluation data. Of the respondents seeding cover crops in 2017, 65% of them did so with the assistance of cost share.

Iowa Learning Farms sponsored 29 conservation field days and workshops in 2017. Topics included cover crops, strip tillage, soil health, monarch habitat and more. These events drew an attendance of 1,280 people, primarily farmers and landowners (89%) and 27% of field day attendees were female.

In January, the 580 farmers and landowners who attended Iowa Learning Farms field days in 2017 were mailed an evaluation questionnaire to investigate whether they made changes to their farming practices. In a one-month period, 251 evaluation questionnaires were returned, for a 42% response rate.

The 2017 Field evaluation can be found at iowalearningfarms.org.

Source: Iowa Learning Farms