Wallaces Farmer

Webinar will discuss benefits of water resource conservation and restoring wildlife on farmland.

December 11, 2019

2 Min Read
Close-up of a female bobolink
HABITAT: Coupling conservation and habitat with efforts to improve water quality and soil health can help restore farmland wildlife to rural Iowa.

The Iowa Learning Farms monthly webinar for December will focus on opportunities for restoration of farmland wildlife in Iowa. Anyone who is interested is invited to tune in at noon Dec. 18. The webinar will also be available as an online recording for access later.

Farmland wildlife, including many grassland breeding birds, butterflies, mammals and other species, were once considered byproducts of diversified agricultural production practices in Iowa, which included hay, pasture, small grains and other crops.

Today, fewer wildlife are surviving and thriving in row-cropped landscapes. However, coupling wildlife habitat conservation with efforts to improve water and soil health offers promise for restoring farmland wildlife to rural Iowa. Adam Janke, assistant professor at Iowa State University, will explore these synergies and discuss the promise of using natural features and processes to improve water quality and wildlife habitat on the same acres.

Restore wildlife habitat

Janke’s research seeks to understand how wildlife, especially birds, use agricultural landscapes to help farmers, landowners and policymakers find opportunity areas for wildlife conservation in working landscapes. He hopes the participants in this month’s webinar will learn to recognize opportunity areas for coupling wildlife habitat conservation with soil and water conservation practices that are good for farms, farmers and downstream or down-the-flyway neighbors.

“Coupling water quality conservation practices with wildlife conservation practices is a promising effort to achieve multifunctional rural landscapes that are good for people, water, wildlife and land,” Janke says.

Approved by the Certified Crop Adviser board, a continuing education unit (1 CEU: Soil & Water Management) is available for viewers who can watch the live webinar. Information for submitting your CCA, CPAg, CPSS or CPSC number to earn the credit will be provided at the end of the presentation.

Tune in on Dec. 18

To watch the webinar, go to Iowa Learning Farms and click the link to join the webinar shortly before noon to download the Zoom software and log in option. As with all ILF webinars, this webinar will be recorded and archived on the ILF website for watching at any time.

Source: ILF, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

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